


Match.com

by fingerprintbruises



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Artist Sirius Black, Chef Remus, M/M, Online Dating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 19:18:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 34,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10703430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fingerprintbruises/pseuds/fingerprintbruises
Summary: The best way to Sirius’ heart is through his stomach.





	Match.com

**Author's Note:**

> Written for mwpp_mischief on LJ, February 2011 for the prompt: "Sirius Black has gone through several dating disasters, and Remus Lupin hasn't fared much better. They meet one another through an online dating service and connect almost immediately."
> 
> About the story, this all takes place in 2006, and I actually went onto Match.com and filled out the questions and looked around the site. Everything in italics relating to the site is taken verbatim from Match.com (with exceptions of the usernames) and I do not have claim over them (I really wish I took screenshots for you guys). This is the longest, completed work that I’ve ever done. While I’m not exactly proud or completely happy with how it came out, I’m glad that it got done and hope the prompter likes it. I would’ve added more to the story, but I simply did not have the time. I didn’t even mean to write this much...but it kinda exploded on me.

**Early May**  
  
  
  
_“Pete?”  
  
“Yeah, mate?”  
  
“I think I’m gay.”  
  
There was a crash as something fell to the floor followed by a mutter of, “Ah, shit. Mum’s gonna kill me.”_  
  
Remus Lupin could forever amuse himself if he thought back upon the conversation from four months ago with his best mate Peter Pettigrew. He had been just as surprised as Peter when he first came to the realization that he fancied men. Really, wasn’t 26 a little late to start realizing that you were after the wrong sex all along? But there were so many signs that Remus missed that he couldn’t help but smack himself in the head for not realizing it any sooner. All this time Remus felt like there was something wrong or missing in his life, but now he had finally found the thing he never knew he was looking for.  
  
It would explain how he was comfortable with gays, but wasn’t fond of watching anything remotely homosexual because it made him feel weird and tight in his chest and stomach. It explained why his eyes lingered a bit longer when a good looking man crossed his path. It could explain why he felt more tongue-tied when said good looking man talked to him and made his stomach twist pleasantly.  
  
Remus had only had four girlfriends in his quarter of a century life. The first three had progressed from being completely feminine to the point where the third girl was almost one of the boys. He could count how many times he had sex with the three of them combined on two hands (although one of them shouldn’t even be counted since she was abstaining until marriage).  
  
His last girlfriend, the one who helped him realize his true orientation, was Danielle or Dani. Remus met Dani at a bookstore he frequented. She had a pixie style haircut, small breasts, and narrow hips; Remus was immediately attracted to her. They had gone out for a couple of months before anything remotely sexual happened. Remus liked the sex with her very much. He liked her almost non-existent breasts and the way her hips never curved outwards. Their sex was good, but not great. However, their second to last sexual encounter was forever seared into his memory, and when they had sex once more after that time together, it was more difficult for Remus to get off, and it worried him more than ever.  
  
Remus broke up with Dani a week later, saying that it wasn’t working out, and set out on finding out what his problem was. He was confused, and if he was honest, he was scared. How could he have not known that he was gay? When he had first expressed his thoughts to Peter about his newfound sexuality, Peter hadn’t been much help either.  
  
His first test was wanking without any preconceived notions on what gender he would focus on. When he came to the thoughts of broad shoulders, and big, firm hands stroking him and flittering about his body, he knew that he was more inclined towards men, but he was still in denial of his true identity.  
  
Two months after the break up, Remus was walking up the stairs towards his flat when he spotted his neighbor, who wasn’t alone that night. His neighbor from across the hall was a man named Benjy Fenwick. He was friendly and around Remus’ age. They often exchanged greetings and little conversations from time to time. What surprised Remus most was not that Benjy had company, but rather that he was pushed up against the wall outside his flat by a red haired man viciously attacking his mouth. Their hands were everywhere and their hips thrusting towards each other. Remus had abruptly stopped in his tracks and stared at them, his jaw slackening a little as he felt himself begin to harden. He must have made a sound, because in the next second, they had stopped and looked at Remus, their eyes wide and dilated, hair messed up beyond repair, and clothes rumpled and askew.  
  
_Fuck_ , Remus had thought when his cock twitched in his jeans some more. _I am so gay._  
  
Benjy and Fabian, the red haired man, had taken Remus to a gay club a week later. After much resistance and sleepless nights, he finally came to terms with his new sexuality. Remus had finally felt comfortable enough in his own skin to dance pressed up against another man for the first time. He felt alive and free.  
  
A couple weeks later, Remus had met a bloody attractive younger man with short blonde hair named Shawn. Although they never called themselves boyfriends, Shawn was Remus’ first for everything from another man - kiss, blow, hand job - everything except for the actual penetration. Remus wasn’t ready for that part yet, and had felt he could save that part for later, since everything was still so new to him. Thinking of that made him feel like a virgin all over again.  
  
Remus had come out to his parents only a few days ago. They were always open minded people, but of course they couldn’t help but be disappointed and surprised when he shared the news. Admitting he was gay to his parents was harder than he imagined, and he knew that it would take a while to get used to. And his only true friend, Peter, was shocked and a little awkward at first when he first talked about it four months ago, but after a few weeks their friendship was back to normal, when he knew Remus wasn’t about to jump his bones.  
  
“Are you going to Eros tonight?” Peter asked as they walked down the darkening street, away from the small diner they worked at.  
  
Remus shrugged as he stared down at his feet. “No, not tonight I don’t think.”  
  
Peter looked at Remus with raised eyebrows. “You haven’t gone for a few weeks. Is it because of Shawn?”  
  
Remus frowned slightly as he thought of an answer. Eros was the club Benjy and Fabian had taken him to, and while it was fun and new at the time, it was quickly becoming tiresome. They were the same people who wanted the same thing, and Shawn was an example of how Remus didn’t do casual.  
  
“Yes and no,” Remus said in reply as he scuffed the bottom of his sneaker against the ground on purpose. “Yes, because he basically lives there, and no, because it really isn’t my thing. Besides, most of them are 20 year olds who are just looking for a good time.”  
  
Peter nodded in understanding. “You never liked partying or drinking anyway,” he said with a bit of relief and a smile.  
  
Over the past few months, Peter had felt like he was losing his best friend. They had rarely seen each other except for work and Remus, over the weeks, had changed rapidly. Remus was always a calm, kind man with a dry sense of humor who liked to curl up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate as he read the latest novel he picked up, but ever since his new found sexuality, Remus was always out dancing at the club and behaving boisterously the next day after meeting up with Shawn, brimming with energy from his latest romp. Peter was getting tired of the new Remus and was happier now that the old Remus, the one he grew to care about, was finally returning.  
  
It was not that he didn’t care about his friend’s happiness, he loved when Remus was happy, he just cared that Remus would change so much that they would grow apart. Peter didn’t really have anyone other than Remus, his current girlfriend Mary, his small family, and his few work acquaintances.  
  
“No,” Remus replied chuckling, “I don’t really.”  
  
Peter fiddle with the hem on the cuff of his thin jacket. “So, what happened with Shawn?” he asked hesitantly. “You never told me.” He wasn’t sure if he was a touchy subject at the moment, but if Remus didn’t want to answer, he had his way of avoiding the truth.  
  
Remus sighed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. He thought back to three weeks ago, when he last really saw Shawn. They had a great time that night, slowly exploring each other’s bodies until they were tired and sluggish. A few days later, Remus had felt a bit cheated and hurt when he had spotted Shawn making out with another man at Eros. He forced himself to remember it was nothing more than sex, and Shawn was probably getting tired of not being able to go all the way, for which Remus couldn’t blame him. Shawn was young and was able to find men who were far more experienced and willing to go all the way with him in an instant. Remus was just special because he had never been touched by another man before. That was the end of that.  
  
“We were just fooling around I guess,” Remus said slowly and bit awkwardly. He wasn’t known for casual relationships, and Peter knew that. “Saw him snogging another man three weeks ago.”  
  
Peter winced as though he had been hit. “Oh, ouch. Sorry, mate,” Peter responded apologetically. He shrugged loosely and then said, “Didn’t like him much anyway.”  
  
Remus laughed lightly. “He was a bit of a ponce wasn’t he?”  
  
“A bit is an understatement.”  
  
With that Remus laughed a little bit harder. He was getting over Shawn quickly; it wasn’t like there was much to get over in the first place.  
  
The sounds of the city street filled up the silence between them as they walked. Other people were also heading home from work, some walking with their mp3-players plugged into their ears, some with cell phones, some with briefcases, and some with nothing at all.  
  
As they turned down one of the busier streets Peter piped up and asked, “So are you going to be going there again, or are you going to find somewhere else to pull?”  
  
Remus eyed Peter briefly before saying, “I d’nno. I don’t really feel like bothering Benjy all too much to take me places, but I don’t really know where else to meet other men you know?...It’s much harder finding a man than a woman.”  
  
Peter, who was not as sharp as one would hope and often had people wondering how Remus, with all his brains, got along so well with him, asked, “What do you mean?”  
  
The taller man with longer brown hair worried his bottom lip before answering. “Well, with a bird I can walk up to her and hit on her anytime, unless she’s with her boyfriend…or partner or something. But if I did that with a bloke I’d be socked in the face almost instantly. It’s not like I can walk into a store and pick out who’s gay and who’s not. My gay-dar is non-existent, unfortunately, and I definitely can’t tell if a man swings my way or not when I’m talking to one.”  
  
“Isn’t there somewhere else you can go then?”  
  
Remus glared lightly at a man who bumped into him and quickly checked his pockets to make sure none of his belongings were stolen. “I’m sure there’re quite a few places to find other blokes, but most of them are probably pubs with men who only want to shag.”  
  
Peter grinned toothily. “And you’re a lightweight. Wouldn’t want you to be taken advantage of, now would we?”  
  
The other man laughed and nudged his friend with his elbow. “Very true.”  
  
The two friends crossed the street and Remus’ eyes settled on the movie theater across from them. “Hey, wanna catch a film?” he asked Peter as his head nodded in the general direction of the theater. “We haven’t done anything like that for a while.”  
  
“Sure,” he answered with a small shrug and a pleased grin. “As long as it’s not Mission Impossible 3.”  
  
Remus laughed in agreement.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Three days later, Peter and Remus were back to the diner, working through the lunch time rush.  
  
“Where’re those sides of vegetables, Mel?” Remus called as he put down the ticket order and finished garnishing the plate.  
  
“Coming!” she called back as she lifted the lid off a steaming pot and quickly drained the water. Mel then grabbed a ladle and brought over the pot to where Remus stood with two separate plates.  
  
Remus fanned the pot, trying to get it to cool down so he could get a quick taste. He picked up a steamed carrot with his latex covered finger and tossed it into the air. Quickly he caught it with his mouth and chewed it down. Remus was satisfied with the taste and turned to grin at the elder lady beside him. “Perfect as always, Mel.”  
  
Mel laughed, making the lines of her eyes more defined. “Always the charmer, aren’t you, Remus?”  
  
Remus gave her a small wink as he dished out the two portions and put the plates up on the pass along with the ticket order.  
  
As the swinging door opened, Remus looked over and threw a grin to Peter as he pulled in a cart full of dirty dishes. “‘ey Pete, we’re gonna need more plates soon, yeah?”  
  
Peter smiled back and replied, “I’ll bring some after this load.”  
  
Remus was one of the two head chefs of a small, respectable neighborhood diner called The Hideaway and Peter worked as the busy boy, dish washer, and overall janitor.  
  
Remus had attended university as an English major, but always had a passion for cooking. He grew up watching his mother cook, and often sat silently in the corner of the kitchen where his mother worked at, watching the workers with wide eyes and fervent attention. When he was old enough age he did the preparation work for the same kitchen and received a meager, under the table wage, for his work, but he never complained about the money; he honestly loved working with the food. Soon after, he started helping the chefs cook a few of the easier dishes and frequently made the always easy salads.  
  
Throughout his university days, he worked in the food court and worked closely with one of the chefs, learning all that he could. During the summers, he’d come back to the old restaurant and work there for more pay. After Remus graduated, he found himself a job, away from his mother’s kitchen, at The Hideaway as a preparatory worker. Remus didn’t mind going back to the menial tasks. He had been working there for just over three years and was surprised how fast he rose to being one of the two head chefs of the kitchen.  
  
The Hideaway was where he met Peter, who started working there five months before him when the restaurant first opened. They quickly bonded because they were much younger than the rest of the elderly staff, and Peter often told him the ways of the kitchen staff. Remus noticed that Peter had a way of picking up on the habits of other people and noticing patterns between them. Peter had attended two years of university before dropping out due to being too overwhelmed by the workload and doing some unskilled labor in various places before he finally settled at the diner.  
  
After the lunch rush finally died down, Remus and Peter both took their breaks, sitting in the corner booth of the diner with their lunches. They were both eating Remus’ take on bacon sandwiches which included adding lettuce and grilled onions on top of the usual buttered bread with egg and bacon.  
  
“So I was talking to Mary the other day about your problem and-”  
  
“What problem?” Remus interrupted with furrowed brows as he bit off a piece of his sandwich.  
  
His friend sighed with obvious frustration. “You know, the whole ‘I can’t meet a bloke who doesn’t just want to shag’ problem.”  
  
“Ah, right,” Remus replied, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Please continue, then.”  
  
“So, yeah, before you laugh, I wanted you to know that you should actually really think about it, alright?” Remus nodded noncommittally. “She said you should try online dating.”  
  
Remus choked on the water he was drinking. He put down the glass quickly a little firmer than usual and gasped, “What?”  
  
“Online dating, you know?”  
  
“You can’t be serious.”  
  
“I am.”  
  
“But that’s embarrassing!”  
  
“Embarrassing?”  
  
“Yes, embarrassing. I don’t want to use the internet as a way of meeting someone.”  
  
“How embarrassing can it be if you’re not the only one who uses it?”  
  
“Because _I_ would know that I’m using it and I don’t want to be one of those people who need to use the internet to find somebody.”  
  
Peter sighed in defeat, feeling a bit put down that Remus thought the idea was terrible. He had his reservations when Mary first started talking about it, but after hearing her explanations, he felt as though it would’ve been the perfect thing for Remus.  
  
“Well…just think about it, yeah? There’s no harm in checking it out.”  
  
  
*****  
  
  
He didn’t know what his problem was. No, what was he thinking? There was no problem with _him_ ; it was them. Always them. They either took things too personally or never wanted to go out, only wanted him for his body or were as thick as two planks. Maybe he had high standards or maybe he just seemed to carry an invisible neon sign that attracted only the lowlifes, but whatever it was, it simply was not working.  
  
“Problem, Black?”  
  
“Fuguf.”  
  
“I’m sorry, what was that? I can’t understand you when you talk out of your arse.”  
  
The head that was previously sheltered under a leather covered arm popped up and yelled, “I said fuck off, Snivellus!”  
  
And with that Sirius Black picked up a thick pen and threw it in the general direction of the pain in his ass, Severus Snape. Even though the pen failed to hit its desired target, it was worth it to see Snape flail around to avoid getting hit.  
  
Sirius chuckled to himself, feeling a smidge better, before he turned back around and faced his latest task. He was drawing sketches for the latest adventure for the _Marauders_ graphic novel series. Several pages were spread about in front of him in various stages of being completed. The four main boys were finally out of Hogwarts and facing off criminals that called themselves Death Eaters. Sirius couldn’t be happier with his work.  
  
“Oh no.”  
  
Sirius paused in his thoughts, recognizing the voice that spoke. He then looked up to see his best mate, James Potter, his black hair tousled as ever, standing in the doorway. When James didn’t continue, Sirius gave him an annoyed look complete with raised eyebrows to get James to talk.  
  
“You’ve got that look,” he elaborated a bit more as he moved to the opposite side of the extra large white desk that filled up the brightly lit room. James placed his briefcase on top of the table and leaned over it. “The one that says, ‘I just dumped my boyfriend’.”  
  
Sirius groaned and placed his hands on top of his head as he slumped forward so that his upper arms were resting on the desk. “Don’t fucking remind me.”  
  
“No, no, come on. Tell me all about your break up with Phil the Phallus.”  
  
“Can we talk about this later? I don’t fancy all these pricks being able to walk in at any moment,” Sirius complained as he sat up straighter on his stool and grabbed his marker.  
  
“You mean like Snivellus?” Sirius snorted and James laughed. “I saw the pen you threw at him.”  
  
“Deserved it, the nosy twat,” Sirius muttered.  
  
The day continued on slowly at Phoenix Comics. Sirius continued drawing and James continued thinking of new ideas for later in the series along with the story lines. There was an unexpected drop-in from the owner and CEO of the company, Albus Dumbledore. He was an old man with scraggly long, pure white hair that brushed his shoulders and a full beard to match. He wore half-moon glasses and had an abnormal taste in suits. They had no time to feel worried about their work, because, as soon as he saw Sirius’ drawings and James’ outlines, he told them how much he looked forward to seeing the finished product.  
  
The two boys were in good spirits until the President of Phoenix Comics, Alastor Moody, walked into their room with his fake leg and glass eye.  
  
“Where’s the rough draft that I need for your next deadline?” Moody practically barked. Sirius winced slightly from his loud voice.  
  
James pulled out a basic outline of the novel they were currently working on and Sirius tossed over a few rough penciled sketches on the major points of the storyline that he finished a week ago.  
  
Moody merely grunted as he took the papers and left the room. Sirius’ eyes trailed him through the glass wall briefly before he turned back to his pieces of work.  
  
“Did he ever say how he lost his leg?” Sirius asked.  
  
“His leg? I’d be more concerned about his eye,” James remarked. Sirius laughed and let it be.  
  
It was a while before the two friends were able to leave the corporate building. They were both thankful, as a comic book writer and artist, that they only had to come into the office twice a week and on deadline days. Workers like them were mainly allowed to work wherever they please since it was better for their muse, and when they came in, it was primarily to make sure that they stayed on track.  
  
“Oh, I forgot: Lily wanted me to see if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight,” James said as they made their way to their cars in the underground garage. “Might as well, right? Free food and you get to tell us all about dumping Phil the Phallus.”  
  
Sirius cracked a grin as he unlocked his car and placed his case full of drawings in the backseat. “Sure,” he agreed. “I’ll come over right now, alright?”  
  
James nodded as he went to his car on the opposite side of the row.  
  
The drive over to James’ house in Godric’s Hollow was only forty-five minutes long, but Sirius found himself starving for some of Lily’s food about halfway there. He pulled up at the small cottage just before James and waited for him before walking up the stone pathway to the front door. As soon as James opened the front door, there was a scream of _“Daddyyy!”_ ringing throughout the house.  
  
A young boy, no older than six, with wild dark hair flew into their vision and wrapped his short arms around his father’s legs. James chuckled as he affectionately ruffled the boy’s hair. He bent over and kissed the top of his head just before the child noticed Sirius.  
  
“Sirius!”  
  
“Harry!” Sirius yelled back and picked up the boy.  
  
James closed the door as Sirius carried Harry towards the kitchen, following the wonderful scent of a freshly cooked meal. As Harry babbled on about the dinosaur he drew and got posted on the refrigerator, Sirius gave Lily Potter a one armed hug and pecked her cheek with a quick kiss.  
  
“What’s for dinner? Curry?”  
  
Lily scoffed and pushed her long red hair behind her shoulder. “There’s more to food than carry out every night.”  
  
“I don’t eat it every night.”  
  
James walked into the kitchen and said, “Just on the nights where your cooking skills fail to do their job.”  
  
As James hugged Lily, she quickly added, “Which is every night of course.” James laughed and kissed her soundly.  
  
“Oi! I’m a fantastic cook! Aren’t I, Harry?” Sirius looked to Harry for reassurance. Harry’s bright green eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. Sirius pouted as he heard the laughter from his two friends. “I see how it is.”  
  
Sirius grinned widely before raising a hand and tickling Harry. The little boy laughed and squirmed. When Sirius felt like Harry was in danger of falling from his arms, he placed the squealing boy on the ground. Harry, taking advantage of his new found freedom, ran from the kitchen, his shrieks resounding everywhere. Sirius tore after him, laughing, and yelling empty threats.  
  
“Dinner will be ready in five minutes!” Lily’s voice called after them.  
  
They paid no attention to her warning and ended up chasing each other around the upper floor of the house. Sirius purposefully missed catching him several times before Harry ran into his own room, seeking refuge under his bed.  
  
“Where’d he go?” Sirius questioned the ‘empty’ room, as if he didn’t know that Harry was in there. He heard a muffled giggle resonate from under the bed. As he continued to act like he didn’t have any idea as to where Harry had disappeared to, Sirius walked around the room, opening the drawers and closet doors; he even opened the curtains to make it seem he was looking all over for him.  
  
Lily’s call of dinner being ready told Sirius that their little game was over. He walked to the doorway and said merrily, “What a shame. I guess I’ll just have to eat Harry’s share.”  
  
There was a cry of disproval from under the bed. Sirius laughed as he watched Harry scramble out from under the bed and run towards the door. Instinctively, Sirius grabbed at the small boy and threw him over his shoulder before walking down the stairs, heading towards the kitchen. Harry was still wiggling and laughing in his arms when they reached the kitchen table.  
  
“Sirius, help him wash his hands, please,” Lily told Sirius as she placed portions of baked chicken on four separate plates.  
  
Sirius nodded as he carried Harry over to the sink and held him up by the armpits. Once Harry was done he put him down and guided him to his usual seat at the square dining table. Sirius then sat on the opposite side in his unofficial seat.  
  
James brought over a bowl of rolls, three glasses and an uncorked bottle of wine and placed them on the table. He then went back into the kitchen to help Lily bring out the plates as Sirius poured some wine for each adult. In no time, everyone was seated around the table, digging into their dinner.  
  
The conversation started easily with Lily’s work day visiting one of her restaurants. Lily was an entrepreneur and owned three separate restaurants in London. It had taken her a while to get them up and running, but she worked hard at keeping them going. One of them was even starting to get the attention of well-known food critics.  
  
“So guess what happened to Sirius last night, Lily,” James stated with a smirk as he finished cutting up the last pieces of his son’s uneaten chicken.  
  
Lily raised an eyebrow before looking at Sirius who sat to her right. “It better not be anything remotely inappropriate,” Lily warned. “I still hope Harry will have his innocence by the time he’s seven.”  
  
“What are you talking about?” Sirius scoffed. “He has Jim as a father and me as a godfather; he has no innocence.”  
  
“Hey!” James exclaimed. “I was very innocent until you came along, thank you very much.”  
  
“Really? Like I was the one who wanted us to sneak into the girls’ shower rooms when we thirteen.”  
  
“That’s because I didn’t know you were getting an eyeful in the boy’s showers already.”  
  
“Alright, alright,” Lily cut in, waving a hand. “If you two are done bickering, I’d like to hear what’s going on now. And nothing _inappropriate_ , please.”  
  
“Don’t worry, it’s child friendly,” Sirius replied with a tight smile.  
  
Lily eyed him for a second before saying, “Alright then. Spill.”  
  
Sirius sighed as he swirled around a green bean on his plate. James was busy distracting Harry’s attention away from the other two adults, knowing the general idea of what was about to go on.  
  
“I broke up with Phil.”  
  
“Sirius!”  
  
“Oh, God,” he muttered to himself.  
  
“That’s, what, the tenth bloke you’ve gone out with and dumped in the past year?” Lily questioned in exasperation.  
  
“Ninth,” Sirius corrected before swallowing a large amount of wine from his glass. Lily had a problem with how fast he went through men, as if it was always his fault.  
  
“Whatever. The point is, you need to slow down. How are you going to ever find someone you really like if you throw them away after two weeks?”  
  
“Because it just doesn’t feel right!” Sirius cried as he gripped his long black hair. “All of them had something wrong with them.”  
  
“Just because they aren’t good…” she took a glance at Harry who was happily chomping away on his roll listening to his father drone on about the latest football game, “in bed, doesn’t mean you have the right to dump them over that.”  
  
“That isn’t it, Lily…I didn’t even make it there with half of them.”  
  
Lily paused and gave him an incredulous look. “What? Really?” she then asked in disbelief, her voice rising just above a whisper.  
  
“Is it really that surprising?” Sirius replied a little annoyed.  
  
James then cut in saying, “Of course it is. You practically get it on with anything that looks at you.”  
  
As Sirius glared at his best friend, Lily asked him, “Okay, so what was wrong with Phil? He was perfectly normal, besides the fact that he was a bit rude at times.”  
  
“All he-” Sirius began to reply before he remembered Harry sitting at the table. He gestured to the young boy in front of him. “Can we get him out of here or something? I’m about to explode from all this censorship.”  
  
Lily rolled her eyes before taking Harry into the living room and turning on the television to a volume where he wouldn’t be able to hear them well.  
  
“I wondered when your curse words would be showing up,” James joked grinning. “You could never go long without saying something offensive.”  
  
“I think he’s getting better actually,” Lily said as she sat back down at the table.  
  
“Really?” Sirius responded as his eyebrows rose. “‘Cause I only think of whatever the fuck I’m about to say around Harry…or, you know, extremely important bastards.”  
  
James then started laughing at Lily’s expression of astonishment and Sirius couldn’t help his chuckles surfacing either. James knew his best mate too well sometimes.  
  
“Moving on,” Lily then said after they had started to calm down. “What were you going to say?”  
  
Sirius scratched his jaw for a few seconds as his mind trailed back in his train of thoughts. “Oh, yeah, forgot for a second there. Anyway, all Phil wanted to do was shag.”  
  
James shook his head and ate some more of his food. Lily, of course, wanted more details. “And this was a problem because…”  
  
Sirius looked at her like she was crazy. “As much as I love sucking cock-” There was a choked cry from James’ side of the table and a cough. “-this mouth does like to do other things, you know.”  
  
Lily frowned slightly before nodding slowly. From his spot at the table, James could see the cogs turning in her heard. He recognized the slight frown of her lips when she was thinking. “And Kyle? What was wrong with him?”  
  
“He had no sense of humor whatsoever and he could never tell when I was being sarcastic or not.”  
  
“Vic?”  
  
“The most self-centered prick I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something. Only did things he wanted to do and always wanted to go out partying. Not to mention he farted while we were going at it and had the nerve to lie about it.”  
  
James couldn’t hold back his laugh at the last statement. “Really?”  
  
“Yes, really. It was disgusting with my face was this close to his arse!” He held up his thumb and index finger a short distance away from each other.  
  
“What about Michael?”  
  
“Like Phil, just wanted sex and was so stupid I don’t even know how he survived this long.”  
  
“Dave? He was nice.”  
  
“Well, yeah he was nice, but he never wanted to go out. Not even to eat. All he wanted to do was sit around, order in, and watch the telly.”  
  
Sirius waited for Lily to fire off another name, but was met with silence from the woman. She had her lips pursed and her head was nodding slowly. He finally realized she was thinking of something.  
  
“I think…you’re looking for him,” she said slowly.  
  
Sirius’ eyebrows scrunched together. “Who?” he asked in pure confusion, and looked over at James, who bore the same look as well.  
  
“You know,” she said lamely before adding emphasis, “ _The One_.”  
  
There was a silence that followed her statement as both Sirius and James blinked owlishly at her. Then Sirius broke out into a fit of barking laughter and was immediately followed James.  
  
“What are you talking about?” Sirius asked, laughter still trailing into his words.  
  
“Lily, you do know who you’re talking to, right?” James pointed out as he used his fork to point like it was his index finger.  
  
“Don’t laugh at me, Black,” Lily snapped. “I’m trying to help you.”  
  
Sirius settled down a little, knowing that Lily could do some real damage if he pissed her off enough, but still bore a hint of a smirk on his face.  
  
“Everything you’re saying all points in one direction: the perfect man,” she explained excitedly. Lily had been secretly waiting for the day when Sirius would be ready to finally settle down with someone. They had known each other since they were eleven, and she could see with her own eyes that Sirius could never stay in a committed relationship for long. “You want to find someone who’s got a sense of humor, yet is still smart. You want a bloke who will go out with you, but will also have a few lazy days. And the fact that you didn’t base half of your break-ups because of sex means that the physical intimacy that you’re seeking is becoming less important. You’re looking for an emotional connection before the physical one and that says a lot about what you want.”  
  
There was an eerie silence after Lily’s short speech and the noise from the television could be faintly heard in the background. James had a look of surprise on his face while Sirius looked slightly confused from her statements.  
  
“How long have you been waiting to say that?” Sirius asked slowly, giving her a suspicious look. “Sounded very rehearsed.”  
  
Lily flushed lightly and shifted in her seat. “I didn’t rehearse anything.”  
  
Sirius raised an eyebrow elegantly, which probably would’ve gotten anyone else, besides the other two people at the table, to spill whatever it was he wanted to hear. Luckily for Lily, she was one of few people invulnerable to his good looks.  
  
Suddenly James started laughing, causing Lily and Sirius to stop their staring and look at him like he was crazy. “I just pictured Sirius as a housewife,” he choked out through his laugher and fingers that were covering his mouth. “Just imagine him with a little apron and a feather duster.”  
  
Lily’s mouth curled into a smile and she started laughing  
  
“Sod off,” Sirius berated James as he leaned over and punched James in the arm. He was on the verge of laughing himself.  
  
Sirius went back to eating his dinner as he waited for the other two to complete their laughing.  
  
When Lily first said that Sirius was looking for ‘The One,’ he thought it was preposterous. Sirius Black settling down with one bloke for the rest of his life? It was like asking the sun to stop shining. But now that the idea was planted in his head, he was beginning to doubt this new form of bachelor life that he fell into during the years. In his younger days, he was all about the occasional one-night stand and quick fix in bathroom stalls, but eventually he moved on. He slowed down and began to take on real relationships, which usually lasted no longer than three or four months at a time. His longest lasted almost five months. Not until the current year had the amount of partners increased to three times the normal amount and lasted less than a third of the time.  
  
Could Sirius really settle down with _one_ person for the rest of his life?  
  
He had only ever fallen in love once, with a man named Neal just under two years ago. Sirius fell quickly for him, but in the end Neal hadn’t felt as strongly, and they decided to go their separate ways. What surprised him, though, was that he actually did and could care deeply for another person. With his upbringing, he never thought he could love and fall hard for another, but he proved himself wrong.  
  
Now that he got himself to even think about Neal, he realized it was after him that the short relationships began. Sirius groaned at the thought of Lily being right. It made sense, didn’t it?  
  
After his first taste of the wonderful feeling of falling in love with someone, he was now trying to find it again. How pathetic.  
  
Only how was he supposed to find the perfect man for him? Usually the men he picked up were through parties, pubs, mutual friends, and clubs (if he felt like going; even at his prime age of 26 he felt as though he was getting too old for it). So far, they all ended up not being what they seemed.  
  
Sirius was rather good looking with his thick black hair that touched the bottom of his neck and his gray eyes. He had high aristocratic cheek bones, a thin straight nose that was rounded slightly at the tip, a strong defined jaw, and a thin set of light pink bow lips. Sirius was told a lot that he was attractive. After a while of hearing how nice he looked, he started believing it. Unfortunately, he knew this was how most men saw him: just a pretty face.  
  
Sirius wasn’t aware how lost in his thoughts he was until a hand was waved in front of his face.  
  
“You alright, mate?” James asked with furrowed eyebrows. “You left us there for a second.”  
  
“What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Sirius replied with a flip of his hand and took a sip of wine.  
  
There was more silence before they finished their food and started clearing away the table. James, upon Lily saying it was his turn, began to wash all the dishes as Lily and Sirius went into the living room.  
  
Harry didn’t even acknowledge them as they sat down on the couch behind him. His eyes were glued to the cartoon on the screen and his hands were busy playing with the action figures they held.  
  
Sirius stared blankly at the screen as he thought over the whole ‘searching for the perfect man’ deal. The notion was ridiculous to him. He still couldn’t believe that he was actually ready to settle down. The idea of staying with one man for the rest of his life wasn’t completely scaring him or making him fidgety. It actually seemed kind of nice. He just never stopped and thought about it.  
  
Sirius looked over to Lily, who was looking through a cooking magazine, and hesitantly asked, “Lily...what if I, hypothetically speaking of course, really was ready to settle down with someone?”  
  
Lily placed the magazine on her lap as she gave Sirius a curious look. “I’d say it’s about time,” she joked. “Why? What’s the problem?”  
  
He sighed as he pushed back his hair from his face, “I mean, where could I find someone I liked that much if everyone I’ve picked so far have been total tossers?”  
  
She snorted in amusement.  
  
“I mean you and James, not counting the full six years you hated him, knew each other since the beginning of secondary school, so you two didn’t have to do much looking. But how am I supposed to find someone who’s completely ready for a committed relationship? I most certainly am not going to meet him at a club,” Sirius complained with a huff. He then crossed his arms over his chest and muttered, “And most of them just see me as a pretty face anyway.”  
  
Lily raised an eyebrow as she considered what Sirius was saying. He needed a place where people wanted serious relationships. A place where he wouldn’t be judged based upon his looks alone, but his personality. She couldn’t think of any place where this could be possible, unless you count blind dating, but even then the date could lead into a purely sexual relationship upon meeting. So it had to be a place where the other man couldn’t see Sirius’ face as he got to know him.  
  
Something one of her closest friends said popped into her mind. _“I got to know him though a couple of e-mails before I met him in person.”_  
  
“Oh my god,” she said as if he she knew the answer all along, but just not figured it out. “You know the Abercrombies right?”  
  
Sirius threw her an incredulous look. “Of course I do,” he answered back. “We’ve only known Veronica for the past seven years and Bryan ever since they started dating.”  
  
Lily rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Did you know how they really met?”  
  
“I thought they met at uni?”  
  
Lily smiled mischievously and shook her. “You’ve got to promise not to tell, because I was sworn to secrecy, but what they did is perfect for you.”  
  
“Which is?” Sirius pushed, trying to get the woman to finally admit what she was trying to say.  
  
“They actually met online at a dating website. I forgot which, but it’s perfect,” Lily explained as she tossed the magazine on the coffee table and turned in her seat towards Sirius. “You can go online and meet other people who are looking for a committed relationship without meeting them in person first and when someone strikes your fancy emotionally you can arrange a place to meet to get to know them better one on one. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to post a picture of yourself. Or at least you can, but hide it so that only the actual prospective dates can see what you look like.”  
  
Lily was excited that she failed to notice Sirius’ shocked expression until the end of her rant.  
  
“Are you bloody mad?”  
  
“Language, Sirius!”  
  
“Online dating is for losers and ugly people and people with no social skills whatsoever.”  
  
“Like yours are any better?” Lily countered.  
  
“Lily, darling, does anyone that looks like this-” he ran his hands down his chest “-go on a bleeding website to find someone?”  
  
She scoffed and crossed her arms. “I thought you didn’t want someone to base your relationship off your looks?” she questioned snidely.  
  
“I don’t. I’m just not that desperate.”  
  
“Oh really?” Lily drawled. “Then why are you asking me for dating advice?”  
  
Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but found he had nothing to reply with. So he turned his head and said snottily, “You know what? I don’t have to listen to you.”  
  
He quickly stood up and moved towards Harry on the floor. “Alright, big guy, want to go play some footy?”  
  
Harry’s eyes quickly snapped away from the television towards Sirius with a bright smile. “Yeah!” he shouted as he laughed and got up from the floor. As he ran towards the back door, dragging Sirius behind him, he yelled, “I wanna be chaser!”  
  
  
  
**Late May**  
  
  
  
Over the past few weeks, the words that Peter had said seemed to follow him around everywhere. Remus was reminded of finding a man who wasn’t just looking for one thing only when a bloke he scored a date with tried to drag him home with him after a truly disastrous date.  
  
The man only talked about himself. Then, he didn’t even fight for the bill; of course, Remus didn’t mind paying, but even a half-hearted ‘I’ll get that’ would have been nice. After the meal, the man proceeded to try to suck his face off with what he called kissing at his front door. Remus went home alone and completely unsatisfied.  
  
It was a Tuesday afternoon, his only day off from work during the week, and Remus reminded himself that his father was supposed to have sent a few photos of his parent’s trip to Italy to visit his aunts and uncles. When Remus finished checking his e-mails on his ancient machine called a computer, which, was hooked up to the internet with dial up, and saved a few of the pictures that were sent to him on his hard drive, he absentmindedly switched over to Google and stopped.  
  
_There’s no harm in checking it out._  
  
Remus sighed while shaking his head. He clearly needed psychiatric help for wanting to check out an online dating site. Quickly he typed in _online dating_ and hit the enter key. It took more than a few seconds before the results popped up, but then Remus was a bit amazed at the amount of sites there were.  
  
He clicked on a few and read a bit about each site. He eventually scrolled to the bottom of each and clicked on the Gay and Lesbian Dating.  
  
All of them preached about finding love and how their site was the best one. They all had summaries about their process and how their service helped users connect with each other. To compete with one another Remus noticed that they all had free sign ups and personality/compatibility surveys. Only when it got to the actual meeting of one another did the site enforce fees. Remus thought it was rather ridiculous that there were charges for _meeting_ people on a dating site, but they had to make money somehow, he figured.  
  
Remus sighed and muttered, “Same shit, different sites.”  
  
He clicked around as fast as his computer could take it, looking for which site would be the best – if he was even going to sign up for it that is (which he probably was). Remus even stopped and read some of the success stories. Everyone had their own way of meeting that _special someone_ online, and Remus felt a little better about online dating when he saw other people had the same reservations that he had.  
  
Somehow he had made it onto the sign-up page of Match.com, which currently had a special of contacting the first five matches of your choice for free. Remus sat and stared at the screen for what seemed like an eternity before quickly standing up and walking away from the computer.  
  
Remus made his way into his kitchen and grabbed his container of biscuits. He munched quickly as he leaned up against the counter, mindlessly chewing and swallowing.  
  
In all honesty, Remus was hesitant to try the whole online dating thing; it was mainly his pride that stood in the way. What if someone posted a fake photo of themselves? Or lied about practically everything on their profiles and surveys? In the end, he came to a conclusion: what did he have to lose? He wasn’t fairing much better in the real world.  
  
“Oh, fuck it,” he murmured to himself as he pushed away from the counter and sat back down in front of his computer.  
  
_I am **a man seeking a man**  
  
Aged between **23** and **29**  
  
I was born on **10-03-1980**_  
  
He mentally sighed as he typed in his postal code and selected St. Johns Wood. Even though St. Johns Wood was known to be one of the many high end places to live in, Remus actually stayed in the worst parts, near Lission Grove. Even with knowledge of Lission Grove to be one of the worst areas to live in London, the main perk of living in this area was the short walk to work and the knowledge that Abbey Road was within walking distance.  
  
The next step of the sign ups was creating a username. Remus was never really one to be creative when it came to anything besides food. He racked his brain for something catchy or maybe something random and meaningless. Finally he settled on something that could play off his own name: _**romulus310**_.  
  
He then quickly typed in his password and e-mail before checking off that he was over 18 and agreed to the terms and conditions and the privacy policy. He checked off that he wanted to receive e-mails from offers at the site and finally got to continue on.  
  
After a few seconds, the compatibility survey popped up onto the screen. Remus looked at the survey progress bar and noticed the first section was only 3% of the whole survey. He inwardly sighed as he began to answer the questions.  
  
_**I would feel more at ease with a man:**  
  
Who lets me seduce him o o o o o Who takes the lead_  
  
Remus sat and really thought about himself and what he’d like in a partner. He was never too forward with anyone actually, and with men even less because he was still new to the whole world of gay dating. So he selected the farthest right bubble noting that he liked a man _Who takes the lead_ and continued on with the survey.  
  
The survey seemed to go on for hours and left Remus feeling a little brain dead. There were random questions like _Which color best describes your life?_ and _In a perfect world, I’d live in…_ with pictures of a tent and an igloo along with the normal places to live. What ridiculous questions and answers.  
  
At the end of the survey, they asked deal breaking questions about smoking and children. Remus was indifferent with smoking. Smoking he didn’t have a problem with because he could just make sure that the window was open, but children were a whole different subject. Remus never thought he’d be father, but he did entertain the idea on occasion. There were times when he’d look at another man with his baby and wonder if that would be him one day, but always quickly brushed it away before he could dwell on the thought any further.  
  
Most of the questions actually made him stop and think about what he wanted in a partner. He wanted someone who believed in sharing responsibilities, was outgoing, someone who had some form of intelligence, had the ability to understand his unusual wit, and made him feel comfortable with himself. Remus never really thought about a partner in those terms; people weren’t perfect and you couldn’t always get what you wanted in a lover, but with the survey, he wondered if he could find that someone just right for him.  
  
Remus stood up and stretched as the website brought him to the actual dating site. He looked outside and noticed it was getting dark. Shaking his head at how long the whole questionnaire took, he headed into the kitchen to make himself a quick meal.  
  
He was half way through cooking his pasta when his cell phone rang. Carrying his stirring spoon, he checked the caller ID, saw it was his mother Renee, and picked it up.  
  
“’lo Mum.”  
  
“ _Hi, honey. What are you doing?_ ”  
  
‘ ~~Online dating~~ ’. “Just making some dinner. What’s up?”  
  
“ _Your father wants me to move our dinner from next week to two to three weeks. Something about a footy game and one of his workmate’s birthday dinners going on. The birthday I could excuse, the football game I really could not, but I decided to ask anyway to see if you had plans made for two weeks from now or if you just wanted to indulge your father and make it for three weeks from now._ ”  
  
Remus laughed as he shut off the heat to the stove. “I guess we can indulge him. Three weeks it is.”  
  
“ _Alright, you know how much he’ll appreciate that. Men and their football. Oh, by the way, did you get the photos he sent?_ ”  
  
“Yes, I did. It looked like you two had a nice time.”  
  
“ _It was lovely. I wish you had come, it’s beautiful over there._ ”  
  
“Me too. Maybe next time.”  
  
“ _Oh yes, of course. Well I’ll let you get back to cooking and I’ll see you in three weeks._ ”  
  
“Okay, Mum. Love you.”  
  
“ _Love you too. Bye._ ”  
  
“Bye.”  
  
Remus hung up and then put down the phone before finishing his cooking. Once everything was done, the angel hair noodles were scooped into a bowl, and a quickly made marinara sauce was poured on top, Remus grabbed a fork and moved back over to the computer.  
  
Skimming through the main log-in homepage of the site and eating his food, Remus got to update his own profile. He felt a little dumb writing about himself in his short ‘personal ad’ section, but quickly got over the awkwardness of basically selling himself to potential dates. He found a reasonably good picture of himself on his computer and uploaded it.  
  
As he scrolled down the main page, the site listed his potential matches by percentage of compatibility with their username. Remus almost laughed when he saw no one completely matched him; the highest percentage only reached 71% in compatibility. He glanced at the photos and saw men of different looks and sizes.  
  
Once Remus had finished his pasta and browsing though the site briefly, he decided to leave searching for his soul mate for another day and shut off his computer.

 

_Three Days Later_  
  
Ty had seemed like a true, honest person, but apparently Sirius had been proven wrong when the man had the nerve to stand him up on their second date.  
  
Sirius was a little more than peeved when he returned home that night. He ended up throwing his dishes around, chipping one of his plates, and altogether tried to drown himself in his last two bottles of Guinness, though they did nothing more than give him a light buzz.  
  
He moodily flipped through channels of re-runs and news before settling on the sports channel reviewing football teams stats and scores in preparation for World Cup in Germany. Sirius had gone to see the World Cup in 1990, which took place in Italy, with his parents and younger brother, when he was 10. Sirius had loved the sport before he went to the event and became even more hooked when he watched one of the final matches between England and Italy in which England took fourth place in the tournament. It had fueled his addiction of watching and briefly playing football for more than half his lifetime.  
  
Sirius was half asleep when _the_ commercial came on. He frowned lightly when the man against the white background talked about Match.com like it was some gift from the gods. Sirius chuckled at the thought of someone proposing to place this commercial in a spot where men who seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with sports would see. They probably thought these same men needed help in the ladies department. Sirius wouldn’t be quick to disagree with them.  
  
After the commercial ended, Sirius thought about online dating. He thought about how silly the whole notion was about meeting someone online. How could you be romantic over an e-mail? Sure, you could get to know someone, but it was the actual in-person conversations and meetings that actually mattered most.  
  
With a sigh Sirius looked around his living room. It was large, complete with black leather couches, a pristine dark oak fireplace, a state-of-the-art surround sound stereo system, and a large wide-screen television. His eyes trailed over to hallway which led to the kitchen, bathroom, and guest bedroom, all of which held the best accommodations and appliances. The house was big and filled with the best bare essentials that money could buy. Sirius lived alone in the large three-bedroom estate that he had inherited from his uncle, so he spent most of his, both inherited and earned, money on the house he planned to live in for most of his life. The wood floors, blank walls, and lack of furniture made the place seem even bigger than it was, much to Sirius’ dissatisfaction. The whole house reeked of _bachelor_.  
  
At the moment, Sirius felt more alone than ever in his empty house. He thought about having a boyfriend that he loved and who loved him in return, who could be sitting next to him on the couch, or even lying in bed upstairs, asleep in the master bedroom.  
  
Sirius rubbed his face with his hands. It was hard finding someone you could spend the rest of your life with. The teenager that Sirius once was would have laughed in his face if he saw the state that he was in now. Boy was he getting soppy and pathetic.  
  
What could it hurt to online date?  
  
He looked around his empty home and figured that he wasn’t getting anywhere on his own.  
  
Jumping up from his couch and practically running up to his studio room, Sirius quickly turned on his laptop. As he waited for his computer to load, he got up out of his chair and paced the room.  
  
What was he doing? Was he mad?  
  
He was Sirius Black, London’s most eligible bachelor – and he was turning to the internet to find somebody. He must be going crazy, just like the rest of his insane family. Then again, Sirius was never exactly normal, and never did what was expected of him, keeping everyone on their toes. Sirius Black did whatever Sirius Black wanted. So online dating really shouldn’t be that surprising to anyone. Right?  
  
_Right._  
  
Sirius at himself down at his desk and typed Match.com in the url bar. Once the site popped up, he didn’t stop to look over the site or see if it was any good or not before he clicked Gay and Lesbian Dating. He figured that if they had enough money to make commercials, then they had enough customers who used their site to show that it wasn’t a scam.  
  
_I am **a man seeking a man**  
  
Aged between **22** and **30**  
  
I was born on **21-11-1979**_  
  
He flew though the beginning parts, quickly choosing the Primrose Hill zip code and _**padfoot79**_ as his username. He always wanted a dog named Padfoot, but the thought of a dog peeing everywhere and scratching up the hardwood in his house made him shudder lightly and reconsider it.  
  
Afterward, he rapidly made his way to the survey part, which Sirius thought was going to be interesting and, at the very least, entertaining for a bit, but halfway through the survey, Sirius was starting to get annoyed and bored with all the questions.  
  
His favorite so far, though, was _**Physically speaking, the first thing you notice about a man is his** :  
  
o Mouth  
o Torso  
o Bum  
o Hands  
o Feet  
o Eyes_  
  
Sirius had grinned wolfishly and knowingly chose _Bum_ as the first thing he noticed about a man. _Although, there would have been a better answer if it wouldn’t be deemed inappropriate_.  
  
By the end there were a few questions he enjoyed like: _**If my friends had to describe me to someone who didn't know me, they'd say: padfoot79 likes the status quo. He thinks things through carefully before making decisions and doesn't like to break the rules**_ , answering while laughing with _I totally disagree - that isn't me at all._ And one question that made him rethink the accuracy of the test was: _**Your personality is mainly:** ■, ● or▲_. How anyone could answer that question, he didn’t know. Otherwise, he felt a bit awkward, but completely truthful when he answered questions asking about his family and religious views. The questions on sex didn’t bother him a bit, though.  
  
Sirius was a bit aggravated on the amount of time it took to do the survey. He was not a particularly patient man. The only thing he took patience with was his drawings, but that was because he cared too much on how they turned out to not take his time. He stuck it out though, because he knew the end result could possibly be beneficial to him in the end.  
  
Once he was brought over to main page of the dating service, he took a quick look at the people who were matched to him. No one reached above 67% in compatibility.  
  
Sirius grumbled to himself about false advertising as he looked over some of the basic profiles and their pictures. _Boring. No picture. Boring. Not interested. Ugly. Are you really balding already? Not interested._  
  
Shaking his head, Sirius went to fix up his own profile with only a few sentences about himself. He didn’t post up a photo because his egotistical side told him some of the men might try to contact him just because of his looks – or accuse him of using a false photo.  
  
After looking through a few of the profiles, he finally went to check out the process of how the site worked with contacting potential dates. Once he figured out the basics of the site, he glanced at the time and found it was nearing midnight.  
  
He logged off the website and turned off his laptop before heading off to bed, forgetting about the website for the night.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Sirius woke up the next morning at seven on the groggy side. He and James had an appearance and signing to do on their recent release in two hours on the other side of the Thames River, and, unfortunately, he had to get his butt into gear if he was going to make it on time.  
  
After taking a shower and getting ready, he quickly fixed himself oatmeal in the microwave (he dared not use anything besides the microwave when given the chance). As if knowing his schedule, a car beeped outside his house as he put his empty bowl in the sink.  
  
He rushed out the door into the dry heat drifting across the country. With an unpracticed grace, Sirius flung himself into the backseat of a short limo, smiling and giving the passengers a muttered ‘hello’.  
  
James sat to his left, looking like he just rolled out of bed, and their manager Kingsley Shacklebolt sat with his back against the driver’s seat. They had met Shacklebolt not too long after they had graduated secondary school, through a mutual friend, and immediately hired him to handle their deals and schedules. Shacklebolt was good at what he did in the comic industry, because, honestly, who could say no to a tall, broad-shouldered, bald, black man with an earring and a deep, intimidating voice?  
  
After his greeting, James lifted his head off the window and looked at him through hooded eyes. “You sound too annoyed to have gotten laid last night.”  
  
Kingsley, after almost seven years of managing the pair, ignored their repetitive conversation and told the driver to head over to the bookstore all the while texting with his Blackberry.  
  
“That’s because I didn’t,” Sirius replied bitterly as he glanced outside to see the trees of Regents Park fly by his window. There was a beat of silence that Sirius knew James left open for him to fill. “Stupid git stood me up.”  
  
James grimaced lightly. “Ouch,” he answered softly. “Sorry ‘bout that.”  
  
Sirius sighed wistfully while shrugging his shoulders. “Me too.”  
  
Most of the hour ride was quiet except for Kingsley’s voice telling them the schedule for the day and what they were expected to do at the signing.  
  
In no time at all, they arrived at the large bookstore filled with fans waiting to meet them and get their autographs. This was one of Sirius and James’ favorite parts of their job. Of course, their egos swelled to the size of hot air balloons when they saw long lines of fans waiting just to see them, but it would have been enough just to see the excitement and joy on the people’s faces. Sirius liked knowing that people loved the work he did. His patience magically appeared on days like these, seeing the people whose lives he had affected by merely doing what he did best.  
  
They spoke to their fans for a few brief minutes, thanking them for coming out and telling them about the upcoming novel they were working on. Soon after their speech, they were signing their graphic novels, pictures, and, randomly, a shoe that also contained an autograph from Billy Joe Armstrong. They took many pictures with their fans, and Sirius and James give the camera their best and widest smiles. With their fans, they were jokesters, outgoing and genuine. Many of the fans were teenagers, but they had their fair share of children and people above the age of 25 in the mix.  
  
After meeting new faces and speaking to the old, the duo and their manager headed off to lunch meeting with a representative from Japan, who was looking to publish their series in his country.  
  
Sirius didn’t expect it, but he was close to exhaustion when he returned home in the early afternoon. He felt bad for James because James had promised Lily he would take Harry to the park as soon as he got home so she could have an afternoon with her friends.  
  
Sirius trudged up the stairs to his bedroom, flicking on the air as he went, and changed out of his jeans into just his boxers and shirt. Humming a tune that he barely recognized, he headed to his studio to work on his drawings.  
  
For some reason after an hour of working on his second panel, his muse didn’t seem to want to work with him any further. The bright light that shined though the large desk that looked white on the surface and silver on the edges started to make his head and eyes hurt a little so he gave up on drawing for the moment. He never really got anywhere when he tried to push himself to draw something. His eyes unconsciously strayed over to his laptop, which sat on the separate wooden desk to his right, pushed up alongside the one he was working on.  
  
“You’re a real nutter, Black,” he muttered to himself as he pushed himself over in his rolling chair in front of the other desk. He flipped open the laptop and turned it on.  
  
As he waited for the laptop to boot up, he leaned back into his chair and tried to balance a pen on the bridge of his nose. Sirius couldn’t believe that he was using the internet to get a date. The whole idea made him feel desperate, and he guessed in some sort of way he was. He was desperate to find love, desperate for someone to stick around for a little longer than two weeks and a shag. Was that really too much to ask?  
  
Sirius tossed his pen back onto the desk as he quickly checked his email. After deleting a good portion of the new mail, he switched over to Match.com.  
  
He looked at his list of compatibility matches, only looking at the men who reached the 60th percentile, and once again glanced at their brief profiles. There were only two that interested him, _**caster123**_ with 65% compatibility and _**tay88tay**_ with 61% compatibility, so he clicked on their profile and learned more about them. In the end he felt that they wouldn’t click too much. _**caster123**_ was a nurse, who probably spent a lot of time at the hospital, and Sirius knew that, even with his flexible schedule, he would like to spend more than 60 hours a week with his future boyfriend. Then there was _**tay88tay**_ who seemed too keen on having a family. _One step at a time, Sirius_.  
  
As he moved onto the next page, he checked the brief profile of _**romulus310**_ who reached 66% in compatibility. For a pixilated image, the man in the photo was, for the most part, attractive, with his plain brown hair that curled slightly as it brushed the end of his temple and ears. He had a grin that tugged up more on the right side than the left and bright brown eyes. If Sirius ever stopped long enough to think about it, brunettes were his drug of choice. There was not much else he could tell from the photo so he looked to the short profile to the right of the photo.  
  
The man was 26, like himself, and lived not 30 minutes from him. What made him feel like he just hit the jackpot was that next to occupation was the word _chef_.  
  
With a girlish squeal (which he would later deny ever happened), he clicked to go to the man’s profile.  
  
Before getting his hopes up, he read the personal ad, just to see if the man seemed like a total prick or not.  
  
_I don’t really know what to write here, but here it goes. I’m mainly looking for a man who I can feel comfortable around and can have a good time with. Hopefully the man knows how to have fun and is outgoing, because I’ve been teased about being a bit of a recluse, so I really want to find a man who can bring me out of my shell. I’m open minded, care a lot about other people, and I’m generally pretty good listener. I love reading books, have a passion for cooking, and have weird sense of humor. I definitely am looking for a long-term relationship; I don’t do well with casual._  
  
For reasons unknown to Sirius, his heart began beating a bit faster in his chest as he read the personal ad. He felt like they were almost perfect for each other.  
  
In the middle of the page there were links titled _SHARED VALUES. SHARED VIEWS. SHARED PERSONALITIES._  
  
Clicking upon _SHARED VALUES_ , Sirius looked at the graphs on how they matched up. They were fairly close in each category, and in other two links he found the same situation, for the most part. So he read a few of the important analyses that were beside the graphs.  
  
In the _SHARED VALUES_ section, he read:  
  
_**Your psychological analysis**  
You yourself prefer change to stability. You like to be independent in what you do, think and feel - and to look for new and different experiences. Romulus310, on the other hand, prefers stability to change - he likes what he knows and what's familiar. The good thing is that your openness to change could introduce him to new experiences - so long as you can create the security he needs to be able to happily join in.  
  
You and romulus310 both look after other people more than you look after yourselves. You focus on others and link your own happiness with that of those around you and the ones you love. But don't forget to look out for yourselves, and to really enjoy the time you spend together as a couple._  
  
Liking what he read so far, he continued onto _SHARED VIEWS._  
  
_**Views on commitment and fidelity  
Your psychological analysis**  
Both you and romulus310 seem ready to take the risk and get involved in a serious relationship - and for both of you, being faithful is vitally important.  
  
**Views on sexuality  
Your psychological analysis**  
The two of you have very similar attitudes to sexuality. Both of you have a high sex drive and sex is very important in your relationship - you're both highly motivated to experiment sexually and to explore sexual fantasies._  
  
Sirius grinned. How much more perfect could this man get?  
  
With his heart pounding in his chest, he went to the last link.  
  
_**Relate to each other  
Your psychological analysis**  
You're both quite different in the way you each relate to a partner. You personally find it easy to open up about your feelings, which means you're able to share your emotions in a genuine and honest way - while when you're offering a partner support, you concentrate on giving advice and coming up with solutions. Romulus310, on the other hand, tends to hold back and be more reserved about how he feels, when he's supporting a partner, he prefers to simply listen and give loving attention. In this sense, you're complementary - and when you each have problems, you'll be able to help each other. But perhaps you could also try reversing roles from time to time, taking it in turns to simply listen or to actively give advice, being able to do both will mean you'll be able to help each other even more effectively.  
_  
  
Sirius was smart enough to know that whatever was on this profile could be fake, or even an exaggeration of what the man’s real personality was like. If this was all some elaborate prank some prick was trying to pull over on him, he would be embarrassed for a while, but otherwise, wasn’t it more of a shame to spend all your time trying to get some man to fall for you?  
  
This man, so far, seemed to have described Sirius for the most part when he wrote what he wanted in a man. Their personalities, according to the survey, matched up mostly.  
  
Sirius was by no means a coward, so when he went to contact the man, he was surprised to feel himself stop as the pointer of his mouse hovered over the _Message romulus310_. This was it. This man could be whatever the hell Lily was talking about. _Aaaaaand now he was really having some second thoughts._  
  
He pushed those thoughts aside and clicked on the link. He always had more balls than brains, and what did he have to lose really?  
  
  
*****  
  
  
The day was long and hectic. Remus was drained from the long day of work. Sundays were the only days where he worked for 15 hours straight with only a few breaks here and there.  
  
When he got home at 11 that night, he took a shower and got ready for bed. At 11:30, he still felt a bit wired from working all day, so he took some time to calm down before he went to sleep. He turned on his computer and went to get a glass of water before waiting for the computer to be ready. Usually he would watch some TV or read a book to wind down, but there was nothing good on so late at night, and he hadn’t had the time to get a new book since he read the ones he had at least twice so far.  
  
The manager of The Hideaway, Minerva McGonagall, had asked Remus to look up a few new ideas to put on their dinner menu as specials, and, quite unlike himself, Remus had forgotten to look them up until she reminded him this morning. He had a few ideas, but needed to remember the right ingredients for those plates and look up other options.  
  
He went onto the internet, waiting patiently as the dial up connection started up. Remus tried to think of plates that would sell well at the diner, but his tired mind couldn’t think of any new ones past the ones he thought of already, so he decided to just stick with those for now.  
  
As Remus checked his e-mail he deleted most of them and he was about to delete the last one, but stopped when he saw it was from Match.com. His interest was piqued when he read the subject: _padfoot79 sent you an message!_ He left the message in his inbox as he opened a new window and logged onto Match.com.  
  
In all honesty, Remus had sort of forgotten about his profile, and felt a little bad now that he thought about it. He didn’t tell Peter about signing up, even though Peter wouldn’t rub it in his face if he knew that he did. Peter would probably feel good that he took his advice, but he could wait for now.  
  
Feeling glad that the first five contacts were free, Remus found his inbox and clicked on the message from _**padfoot79**_ titled _Hi! :)_  
  
Remus smiled at the smiley face as he read the message.  
  
_Hi I’m Sirius, and yes that is my real name. Anyway, this is my first time doing this whole online dating thing and I’m not sure if I’m doing this right or not so feel free to tell me to shove off.  
  
Honestly, the main thing that caught my eye about you is that you’re a chef…and the fact that you’re a brunette. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you brunettes are my type :) But that’s beside the fact that I’m utter crap in the kitchen. Can you believe that I burned water once?! I had to open all the windows to get the smell out. And I almost burned down my mate’s house once when I tried to cook. Those weren’t good times. He almost slaughtered me. Anyway the point is that I’m a terror in the kitchen and I constantly eat take out or worm my way into eating with my mate’s family for a home cooked meal. So I am definitely impressed that you can actually cook.  
  
For the first time in my life I don’t really know what to say about myself, usually people have to tell me to belt up. Hmmm…so maybe you can just ask me questions instead so I don’t feel like I’m making a fool of myself haha. You can read my profile or whatever, and I know I didn’t put up a photo because I didn’t want people to judge me on the way I looked, but if you want a picture I guess I could send you one. People have judged me on my appearance for most of my life, so I wanted to find a place where people wouldn’t only judge me on my looks.  
  
Not to be paranoid or call you a liar or anything, but everything in your profile is correct, right? Mine is. ‘Cause that was my biggest worry about doing something like this is that everyone is lying about themselves to make them sound better.  
  
So assuming you aren’t sitting there laughing your head off, lying about your information, and you actually got this far (your profile says you’re a reader), feel free to reply with a bit about yourself ;)  
  
-SB_  
  
Remus laughed a bit and shook his head. How could someone burn water? You put a pot on the stove and wait for the water to bubble or for the kettle to whistle. Not that hard. He’d have to ask about that if he was to reply. Remus could believe that someone’s name was Sirius, because let’s face it, Remus wasn’t all that common or normal for a name, either. From the message, Remus could tell Sirius was funny, but he was bit cautious when he said that people judged him on his looks. Did that mean he was really ugly? Remus wasn’t shallow and usually didn’t judge people on their looks, but if Sirius said that he was judged upon his looks for most of his life and he resorted to a place where someone couldn’t see him, didn’t that mean he was ugly? Or maybe it was the opposite and meant he was really good looking. No, that couldn’t be it, a ridiculously good looking bloke shouldn’t have to resort to the internet to wrangle a date.  
  
He was glad that Sirius had never done this as well and was just as hesitant about everything as he was. Remus knew that everything he put on the site was true and was trusting that Sirius did the same when he said he did. Sirius came across as a person who was usually confident and became awkward, but tried to hide it, when it came to things he couldn’t charm or bullshit his way through. It was nice to know that even in a new situation like this Sirius could still ‘talk’ without being overbearing about himself or pushy.  
  
Remus left the message and found Sirius’ profile. He was the same age, lived in a rich area, which might be a problem for Remus, and was an artist (were artists usually ugly?) who apparently did rather well if he was able to live in Regents Park. Unfortunately, the picture was missing and Remus moved onto his profile.  
  
_I’m an outgoing bloke who likes to have a good time and hang out, but I also like to have a quiet night in. I’m funny, loyal, and caring. The kind of person I’d like to date would have to have a good sense of humor, be understanding, open minded, and tolerant. I can be annoying because I have a job that leaves me with a lot of free time so I would like to find a man who wouldn’t mind spending a lot of time with me. So anyway I want a man who’s looking something long term because I’m ready to settle down._  
  
The sides of Remus’ mouth turned up slightly. Sirius didn’t seem like all that bad of a guy so far, and the fact that he was looking to settle down gave Remus the idea Sirius wouldn’t have contacted him in the first place if he wasn’t serious about it.  
  
Taking a breath to calm his nerves, Remus went to go and reply to Sirius’ message.  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Ever since he checked his BlackBerry and found that he had received a reply from _romulus310_ , Sirius was excited to get home and check the website as soon as possible. The office on Mondays tended to go terribly slowly and the fact that Sirius had a reason to rush home made the time pass by even more slowly.  
  
James had shot him some curious looks when it seemed that he couldn’t sit still for more than a few minutes, but didn’t ask questions after he realized it was a good sort of anxious and not a nervous fidget. If he was still the same tomorrow, then he knew it would be only right to ask, but for now it was best to let it go like he didn’t notice anything. James was rather good at pretending to be oblivious, because, most of the time, he rather was oblivious.  
  
The first thing Sirius did when he got home was run upstairs and turn on his laptop. He was restless in his seat as he waited, his fingers dancing across the table in anticipation. After entering his password and getting onto the internet, Sirius felt like his fingers couldn’t move fast enough as he logged onto his account and found the message.  
  
_Hello, Sirius, my name’s Remus. Yes and that’s my real name, too. My mother’s really into mythology, and apparently yours is into astronomy, yes? Or maybe they just hadn’t gotten out of their hippie phases yet.  
  
Well, anyway, you’re actually the first person that I’ve talked to on this site, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you if you’re doing anything right or wrong, but so far I think we’re doing quite alright.  
  
First off, how can you burn water? I never thought that it was possible to do that! I’ve been cooking for a while, ever since I was a kid, which probably explains why I’ve never thought it was possible to burn water. So, yeah I’m actually jealous of the fact that you say you have a lot of days off of work since you’re an artist. What kind do you do? You must be good to make a living off it. I can only draw stick figures and even then those are fairly tragic. Anyway, I work 6 days a week for at least 8 hours a day. Gets kind of tiring after a while, but I love it. The people I work with are great and the diner is awesome. Couldn’t see myself doing anything else actually.  
  
Yes, I’m a bit of a reader. My mate said I should open up my own library, but I honestly don’t have that many books, just a bookshelf…or three. I was an English major, so that probably explains why I have half the books I have.  
  
Hah, I don’t know what to ask you. I’m not the best conversationalist sometimes. Hm, why don’t you just tell me what you like to do for fun or what sort of hobbies you have besides art? Can I ask you why people judged you based upon your looks? It just interests me why you’d say that. Only answer that if you want to, of course; I don’t want to be nosy or anything.  
  
Anyway, before I make a complete prat out of myself, I would like to say, yes, everything on my profile is true and correct. And can I tell you that your message already made me laugh? In the good way, of course. So I hope you reply and don’t think I’m a prick or loony or anything…I’m just kind of nervous =)  
  
Remus_  
  
Sirius smiled to himself. Remus seemed smart, funny, and passionate about his work: everything Sirius wanted. Only, he seemed a little boring, but on his profile it did say he wanted someone to take him out of his shell, and that was something Sirius could do.  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Over the next week and a half messages were flying between them.  
  
Messages were answered quickly and their questions and answers got deeper. Remus told Sirius about his recent discovery of his sexuality, and Sirius’ answer was understanding and even flirty, if Remus read it correctly. Sirius, in turn, told Remus of his struggles with being gay when he was younger and how he got through it all eventually with the help of his best mate. Remus told Sirius about his parents and his innate ability of getting sick when he was younger, leading to his seclusion from other children. Sirius told Remus the basics about his upbringing, leaving out a lot of the details, but giving Remus the basic skeleton on his home life. They both shared their frustrations of not being able to find someone who didn’t just want sex all the time and knew that, if they were to ever go a step further, they would have the same idea of what direction their relationship was heading.  
  
They traded actual email addresses so that they could safely check their emails without logging onto the online dating site. It was for Sirius, more so than Remus, so that he could check his email on his phone and reply as soon as he received the message.  
  
Both of their moods were on a high as they sailed through the days. James and Peter looked at their friends a bit oddly, but knew better than to question the new change in their friends, especially if it was for the better. They knew when the time was right their friends would tell them what planted those silly smiles on their face. And if they didn’t tell them soon, they could bully it out of them. For now, they sat back and watched their friends glow with happiness at finding someone who might actually be the one that people call _their better half_.  
  
It was only a matter of time before Remus felt brave enough to send Sirius his phone number, telling him that maybe they could speak over the phone sometime.  
  
Suffice to say, Sirius couldn’t stop smiling that day in the office when he saw Remus had sent him a message at 11 on a Tuesday the morning, remembering that Remus had no work on Tuesdays. Snape’s snarky comments and Moody’s rudeness couldn’t break the grin off his face.  
  
Was it normal to feel like you won the World Cup when you got someone’s phone number?  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Sirius couldn’t keep his heart from beating out of his chest as he punched the numbers on his cell phone. He frowned down at his hands as they began to sweat. Why was he so nervous? He sealed the deal when he pressed the call button, and felt like all he could hear was his own heartbeat and the ringing of the phone.  
  
His heart seemed to skip a beat when a slightly raspy voice appeared on the other end of the line.  
  
_“Hello?”_  
  
“Hi. Um, is this Remus?”  
  
_“Yeah…Sirius?”_  
  
Hearing Remus’ voice for the first time brought a smile to his face. “Yes, I would’ve called earlier, but I was dragged into an office dinner and a pint afterward.”  
  
_“Dragged? Really? I though you would’ve been running towards the chance of free food.”_ Remus replied with a bit of skepticism and teasing in his voice. There was a bit of awkwardness too, but Sirius did his best to make him feel comfortable, knowing he was more of the outgoing one of the two.  
  
“Well, alright, so I wasn’t actually _dragged_ per say…”  
  
_“Just gently nudged.”_  
  
“Something like that.”  
  
_“So where’d you go?”_  
  
“P.J. Grinders. Have you been there? Their bangers and mash are _to die for_.”  
  
The conversation continued on much the same, and Sirius was more than happy to know that even over the phone they seemed to click. Remus was just as witty and sharp on the phone as he was on emails. He was half afraid Remus took time to make up his comebacks and that maybe his voice would be unattractive, but all of those thoughts slipped away as they talked more.  
  
“So have you Googled my photo yet?” Sirius asked with a laugh.  
  
_“No, actually. When I see your face I want to be pleasantly surprised.”_  
  
“When? So you do fancy me already.”  
  
Remus laughed. God did he have a beautiful laugh. _“Maybe a bit.”_  
  
“Maybe? A bit? Now if that isn’t insulting, I don’t know what is. And I’ll have you know that you won’t be pleasantly surprised when you see me, you’ll be speechless.”  
  
_“Speechless. Really.”_  
  
“Yes. Totally thunderstruck.”  
  
_“Careful now, I think I can see your ego outside my window.”_  
  
Sirius’ barking laugh echoed though his house. “I’m surprised you can see anything outside your window with how dark it is. What time is it? I don’t have any clocks in my house. I usually use my phone.”  
  
Remus’ surprised voice and light chuckle broke through the brief silence, _“Um…wow, it’s almost midnight.”_  
  
“Shit, I called you around 8:30. That’s what, three hours?”  
  
_“Just about.”_ He was happy to hear the smile in Remus’ voice.  
  
“Well, alright, I know you have work tomorrow morning, so I’ll let you get some sleep. Okay?”  
  
_“Okay, sounds good.”_ There was a brief pause of silence before Remus spoke again. _“Um, do you think…do you think I could, uh, call you tomorrow, maybe?”_  
  
Sirius smiled gently to himself. “Sure. Yes. I mean, of course you can.”  
  
Remus’ soft laughter gave Sirius goosebumps as he replied, _“I’ll call you tomorrow then…Goodnight, Sirius.”_  
  
“‘Night, Remus.”  
  
As Sirius hung up the phone, he couldn’t stop smiling. He covered his face with his hands as he laughed to himself. This was ludicrous. Could you fall for someone you’ve only talked to a few times but never met in person? Because Sirius could definitely fall hard for Remus.  
  
  
*****  
  
  
The next night they spoke for four hours on the phone before agreeing to meet that Friday for dinner.  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Remus woke up in the morning with a smile on his face and in anticipation of his date that night. He went through his morning routine thinking of what he would wear that night and what Sirius would look like.  
  
He willed for the day to pass by as quickly as possible, but it still seemed to drag as soon as he arrived to work. The breakfast rush didn’t seem to be much of a rush, unfortunately, so time inched on slowly through the sporadic orders and, when it came to a lull just before the lunch rush, he was called into McGonagall’s office to go over prices for the new dishes Remus had selected. Thankfully this meeting was going fast, but it was soon interrupted by a knock on the door. McGonagall told the person to enter and Remus turned to see a redhead pop her head through the door.  
  
“Ah, Lily, dear,” McGonagall said with a genuine smile, “come in. The time must have gotten away from me, it seems.”  
  
Lily smiled as she stepped into the room. “It’s not a problem Minerva,” she replied sweetly. Lily turned to the third person in the room, “Hello, Remus, how are you?”  
  
Remus gave her a serene smile and nodded to her, “I’m doing fine, thank you, Mrs. Potter. And you?”  
  
“I’d be better if you remembered to call me Lily like I’ve been telling you for the past three years,” she teased.  
  
Remus stood to make his way out of the room, knowing that Lily must have been there for a meeting with McGonagall of some sort. “I guess my mother drilled the manners into me too well,” he countered smiling as he stepped past Lily and into the doorway. He returned back to McGonagall, who was pulling out files to show Lily, and said, “I guess we can finish after the lunch rush, yes?”  
  
McGonagall nodded before Remus shut the door and headed off to the kitchen. The lunch rush fortunately sped on by, and when the lull came back around 3, Remus was back in McGonagall’s office talking prices and portions.  
  
Two hours later, Remus was on his way home with Peter beside him, who was happily yapping away about the movie Mary had bought. Remus barely paid attention to what he was saying, but if Peter noticed, he didn’t say anything about it.  
  
It would be the understatement of the year to say that Remus was nervous. If he didn’t know any better, he would think that he was terrified. He had changed his clothes at least three times already. It wasn’t as though they were meeting anywhere fancy, but his choice of nice, but casual wear was limited to only a few pairs of shirts and trousers. There were only a few dates that he changed his clothes for when getting ready, but tonight, changing them three times was going a little overboard. Remus finally settled on a nice, dark pair of jeans and a navy long-sleeved button-up that he left un-tucked.  
  
Remus found himself running his hands through his hair numerous times as he paced his small, shabby apartment. He didn’t know what to expect from this date. Sirius was wonderful, interesting, and adoring. It had surprised him how well they got along.  
  
So far, Remus thought that Sirius had everything he was looking for in a man. Things between them were going well. That showed with their copious amounts of emails and their seven hour conversation that took place over two nights. Although it was merely a friendship that had been started between them, there were subtle allusions that showed that there could be more with innuendos and flirty lines. It was only tonight that Remus knew could either make or break the relationship between them and that was more nerve wracking than actually seeing Sirius for the first time.  
  
Remus had held out on the temptation of finding a photo of Sirius online. He didn’t want to judge him for his looks just like everyone had, so he focused on his personality, figuring if he liked Sirius’ personality enough, he’d either learn to accept the way he looked or just…he didn’t know what he’d do if he wasn’t in any way physically attracted to Sirius.  
  
Trying not to over think and psych himself out, Remus left his apartment ten minutes early and headed to the tube. Even though he left early, he still managed to be five minutes late.  
  
He turned the corner where the restaurant was and kept an eye out for any man who could possibly be Sirius. They had agreed to meet outside the restaurant, just in case there was going to be a long wait, but as he eyed the restaurant in the distance, Remus only noticed about five people standing around outside. Four of them were paired off and the last was standing by himself talking on the phone with his back to where Remus was coming from. He tried to decipher if this was Sirius or not. If not, he wasn’t as late as he thought he was.  
  
As he neared, he could hear the man’s conversation since he was talking loud and fast.  
  
“– James, belt up! This is what you do, you take Harry to the Weasleys, or whoever, then you go to the market and get some really nice food, whatever’s her favorite, and some flowers. Then you’re going to give her a really romantic dinner and grovel at her feet all right?...Yeah…Yes! Mate, I’ve got to go!...No, I really gotta go…I’m hanging up now, bye!”  
  
_James…Harry…nice arse…good chance it’s Sirius_ , Remus thought as soon as he was a few steps away from the man with fitted jeans and a leather jacket on. From the back, the man seemed alright. He was a bit taller than Remus, with long black hair that brushed the collar of his jacket. Nothing seemed deformed so far…  
  
Remus cleared his throat slightly before saying, “Sirius…?”  
  
The man spun around quickly, almost knocking into Remus. His eyes widened slightly at the man before him. He was extremely attractive, with sparkling gray eyes, a wide smile, a sharp nose, and high cheekbones. When Sirius talked about his looks, he wasn’t joking when he hinted at how good looking he was. Remus could go on about Adonis and statues, but that would lead down a distracting path that he knew he didn’t want to start on at the moment.  
  
Sirius looked at Remus just as appreciatively. He was better looking in person than in the photo he posted online. _Not exactly photogenic – check_. Sirius saw the hint of dimples on his cheeks; his lips were slightly chapped and his jaw was strong. Remus wasn’t the most striking man, but Sirius liked his rugged features more than any man’s smooth or sharp looks.  
  
“Remus,” Sirius replied with a large grin, stating his name more than questioning it.  
  
Remus let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and smiled lightly in return. “Yeah, I – uh, sorry I’m late,” he explained distractedly, still on about how good looking Sirius was, and started blushing lightly.  
  
Sirius only grinned and waved a hand, “Don’t worry about it.” He was excited now. There was a brief pause where they just stood looking at each other. “Anyway, um, it’s really good to see you in person, you know,” Sirius babbled smiling.  
  
“Yeah,” Remus sputtered, nodding and feeling foolish. “Same to you.”  
  
Sirius only grinned more and nodded towards the restaurant. “Come on, let’s eat.”  
  
It was a small surprise that they fell into conversation easily, almost as if they were old friends that hadn’t seen each other for years. They were quick with their banter and subtle with their flirting because they weren’t the only people around. They had finally found someone who could match wits and keep them on their toes. Their laughter frequently filled the air of the small restaurant.  
  
Remus liked that Sirius took a genuine interest in his life and asked all about his job and the people he worked with. It was one of the first times anyone pushed past his quiet exterior and made him talk. People often mistook his quietness as their signal to chat his ear off, and frankly, that wasn’t the way it worked. Although he squirmed and got a bit flustered under Sirius’ piercing gaze, he was able to feel some sort of companionship with Sirius, and it made him relax a bit more.  
  
After they began eating their food, Sirius asked grinning, “Alright, Monsieur Chef, what is your opinion of this food?”  
  
Remus looked up from his plate to see Sirius’ looking at him with an expectant face. He chuckled a bit to himself after he swallowed. “Not bad,” he told Sirius as he prodded at some of the food with his fork. “The beef could use a bit more seasoning, but otherwise it’s good.”  
  
Sirius smiled again, “Could you cook better?”  
  
He shrugged in response. “If I wanted to, I guess.” He took another bite of his beef before he said jokingly, “I’m sensing a reoccurring theme here about you and food. I think you should just go date some really good dish instead.”  
  
There was a pause before Sirius broke out in laughter. “I think I’m fine dating the good looking bloke that I met on the internet who’s smart, funny, pretty much amazing so far, and knows how to cook without burning anything.”  
  
Remus couldn’t help the burning of his cheeks or the smile that slipped on his face as he looked at Sirius’ hooded eyes and gleeful smile.  
  
They finished their dinner not long after with idle chatter and comfortable silences and sat talking for another fifteen minutes after the waiter took their empty plates away. The check brought a fight for the bill in which Remus had won, even though Sirius had tried to use puppy eyes on him.  
  
As they talked, Remus sat forward in his seat with his elbows on the table, one arm tucked towards himself and the other stretched out to where Sirius was, his hands loose and unclenched. Sirius was more relaxed and sat back in almost a slouch with one arm on the arm of the chair and the other mirroring Remus’. Sirius had slowly inched his fingers forward as they spoke with one another, and by the end of the night, his fingertips were ghosting over the back of Remus’ fingers and knuckles. Remus’ breath had hitched slightly and heart beat a bit faster as Sirius put pressure on the back of his hand and moved it towards his wrist.  
  
Sirius had grown quiet as he traced the back of Remus’ hand and he gently lifted Remus’ wrist and dragged his fingers from the base of his palm to slip in through his fingers until they were holding hands. Sirius’s blood was thrumming within him and his stomach felt warm and fuzzy. There was no spark or thundering electricity between them, but the force of warmth that spread through his body was more than enough for him to know that he fancied Remus enough to want to spend more time with him.  
  
Remus bit his lip hard to stop himself from smiling too widely. Besides the initial awkward meeting, the night had really turned out to be something quite spectacular. Sirius made his mind whirl and his stomach do flip-flops. He couldn’t believe that a gorgeous man like Sirius had any interest in him. He just couldn’t fathom the thought of it, so he let it go and enjoyed the moment for what it was worth.  
  
It was only a few moments of silence before Sirius asked Remus if he was ready to leave, to which he nodded silently. They stood up and walked out of the restaurant, their hands still clasped together. They were silent as they walked down the dark street in the direction that Remus had come from and turned the corner.  
  
Remus was pulled to a stop when Sirius stopped walking. He turned and looked at the sleek black car that screamed money and frowned slightly. Money wasn’t everything.  
  
“This is me,” Sirius said quietly as he gestured toward the car. “How’re you getting home?”  
  
Remus turned his gaze from the fancy car towards the man in front of him. “The tube,” he replied just as quietly. Seeing this quiet side of Sirius, the side that wasn’t all smiles and cheerful laughter, made Remus feel a bit anxious.  
  
Sirius’ full lips down turned slightly as his nose wrinkled. “I can give you a ride.” A part of him just wanted to prolong this date a bit further.  
  
Remus felt a bit offended that Sirius thought the tube was such a bad way of getting home. He had taken the tube all his life; there was nothing wrong with it.  
  
Remus then thought of Sirius’ flashy car pulling up in front of his rundown apartment building and shook his head. “No it’s alright,” he protested. “I’ll be fine.”  
  
“Are you sure?” he urged. “It’s not that big a deal to drive you home.”  
  
Remus wracked his brain to find something to say to Sirius to let him go home alone. He settled on stepping closer to Sirius and saying slowly, “Yes, but if you drive me home, you’ll be a gentleman and want to walk me to my door, and then the temptation to invite you would be too great for me to ignore, and we’d be doing exactly what we wanted to get away from. Right?”  
  
Sirius didn’t know why his blood was rushing so much when Remus got closer to him, so only half of his mind was paying attention when he said in agreement, “Right.” Remus wasn’t supposed to affect him this much this quickly.  
  
Remus gave him a lopsided smile and said softly, “We should do this again.”  
  
The black haired man gave him a smile and nodded, “Definitely.”  
  
“Call me later,” Remus replied before squeezing his hand and stepping away.  
  
Like a knee-jerk reaction, Sirius pulled Remus back close to him, making the shorter man’s breath hitch and eyes widen slightly. Remus was now out of his comfort zone. All of his other encounters with men were quick and easy because the attraction was there but there was no real connection, just another warm body to press up against. But Sirius was different, obviously. Remus knew he was starting to fancy him a bit and was a little afraid that he was getting in over his head, which was silly, because it’s what he wanted in the first place. It was just that Sirius could have practically anyone he wanted, and he was here with Remus, agreeing to go on a second date with him and looking as if he could devour Remus whole. Remus couldn’t get his mind to stop spinning.  
  
Sirius watched as Remus’ tongue darted out of his mouth and wet his lips lightly. Desire pushed through his veins. Sirius really shouldn’t want to kiss Remus so soon after meeting him. It was their first date and Sirius didn’t want to push his luck so soon. Remus was one of those one in a million people with a kind heart and clever disposition, the kind of person he knew he’d be crazy to ever let get away.  
  
As Sirius gently lifted Remus’ head with his freehand under his chin, Sirius quickly thought _thankGodandLily’snosystupidideas_ before closing the small gap between them. Their eyelids slipped closed as their lips met, savoring the feel of the first kiss. The kiss was chaste, but pulled the air from their lungs all the same and sent their pulses skyrocketing.  
  
As Sirius pulled back, he took a deep breath and smiled. “I’ll call you,” he said confidently as he stepped away from the stock still Remus. He unlocked his car and opened up the door. “Are you sure about that ride?”  
  
Remus snapped out of whatever daze he was in with a blush and gave Sirius a mock glare. “Go home, Sirius.”  
  
Sirius only laughed and watched Remus as he disappeared in his rear view mirror when he drove away.

 

 

**Early June**

 

 

“Mum, the pork chops are done,” Remus announced as he turned off the stove.

A stout woman with graying brown hair moved into the kitchen and started swatting at Remus with her oven mitt. “Alright, you’ve done your part,” she chastised with no real heat behind her words. “Now, if you want to help, you can set up the dinner table.”

Remus grinned at his mother and went to grab placemats and silverware. Whenever Remus came over, Renee always said that he wasn’t allowed to cook, saying that he cooked all day, all week and deserved to be cooked for, even if it was only for a night. Of course that plan always failed and Remus somehow managed to worm his way into the kitchen every time. His mother still didn’t give up, though.

“Ah, the pork chops smell good,” said a deep voice and Remus turned from the table with a smile to see his father, John, standing in the doorway. Remus had the same build as his father, but Remus’ shoulders were less broad, and his father was an inch or two taller with a bit of a gut from age. Otherwise, many said he looked like his father with the personality of his mother.

“They better,” Remus joked. “I made them.” His father clapped him on the shoulder and helped get the table ready.

Their monthly dinner went by with laughter and stories about their jobs. Wine was drunk to the point where Remus felt warm all over.

They had just finished their pudding when Remus’ pocket buzzed. He pulled out his phone and found a text message from Sirius waiting for him.

_i burned my soup :(_

Remus smiled to himself and pocketed the phone, knowing that he would respond when he had the chance to get away from his parents. He knew texting at the table would be rude, and at the same time, would make his parents curious. Sometimes he got texts from Peter, and they would tell him to ‘ _give him our best_ ’.

He was happy five minutes later when they cleared off the table and his father went to wash the dishes. Remus finally had the chance to reply: _**i thought you didnt go near your stove???**_

Remus was just sitting down on the couch in the living room when his phone buzzed again, not thirty seconds later.

_its the only food i have. curry house closed cuz of construction. pricks._

Remus laughed to himself as he leaned back into the cushions.

_**poor you :(** _

_IM SO HUNGARY…wish u werent at ur rents_

_**raid james’ kitchen or go eat some pizza. why?** _

_cuz then i could get food with u :) oooooor u could make me something ;)_

Remus smiled, and before he had the chance to reply back, he was scared out of his wits by his mother’s voice coming from behind him. He quickly brought his phone to his chest.

“Who’s Sirius Black? I’ve never heard you mention him before,” she said as she moved from behind the couch and sat down next to him.

Remus blushed lightly. “Oh, uh, no one. Just a friend,” he stammered and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He was always a terrible liar when it came to his mother.

Renee raised an eyebrow. “Do all your friends expect you to go out to eat with them or to cook for them?”

“Well, no,” Remus replied, “but he was just joking.”

Renee gave him a stern look that told Remus that she knew he was lying and that she was going to get it out of him. She could be nosy like that sometimes; he blamed it on the fact that she didn’t have any other kids to look after so she pushed her way into his life more often than normal.

“Fine…he’s just this bloke I’ve been seeing recently,” he admitted quietly, not knowing how she was going to react to him actually having his first potential boyfriend.

The smile he received made him smile in return. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it? Is he nice? Handsome? When do I get to meet him?” she fired off quickly as she tilted herself more towards her son.

Remus laughed as he blushed. He couldn’t believe how well she was taking it, even though she did have a few months time to think it over. Even then, a lot of parents didn’t take well to their children’s homosexuality. “He’s great, mum. Very good looking,” he replied grinning madly. Thinking of Sirius did that to him sometimes.

“And when am I meeting my son’s first boyfriend?”

“When I know that you won’t embarrass me too much in front of him.”

“Boyfriend?”

Remus groaned and covered his face with his hands as his father walked into the room. He didn’t even know if they were considered boyfriends yet. They had gone on two and a half dates (because meeting for tea did not constitute a date in his book). They had talked a lot and kissed a bit, but did not mention anything about their status as a couple.

John wiped his hands on his pants and sat down in his brown armchair that was specifically shaped to body after so much use. He raised an eyebrow at his wife.

“He says he’s been seeing a man named Sirius Black,” Renee told him with a proud tone. “He must be something special to make Remus smile like that.”

 

 

**Mid-July**

 

 

Sirius slipped his arm around Remus’ waist and placed his chin on his shoulder, leaning his head on Remus’. Remus leaned back towards his chest and sighed.

Remus found that Sirius was a very affectionate person. Whether he was aware of it or not, Remus didn’t know, but he didn’t exactly protest to the soft touches Sirius gave. Sirius had the tendency to place his hand on the small of his back, run his hand lightly down his forearm, lace their fingers together often, and hold him close to himself. They were not sexually driven touches, but tender ones that gave Remus the shivers all the same.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Sirius muttered before dropping a kiss on Remus’ neck. Sirius sighed wistfully as he looked down at the sauce that was being stirred in a pot on the stove.

Remus snorted. “No, it’s more like you can’t believe I’m cooking for you finally,” he said confidently with a grin.

“Well, I’m certainly not complaining,” Sirius replied a bit smugly as he squeezed his arm around Remus a bit tighter. “My boyfriend is just simply amazing at everything.”

Sirius had asked (more like stated) that they were now boyfriends and lovers after their fifth date on a trip to the theatre. Now, three dates later, Remus still couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face every time he said ‘boyfriend’. Everything felt like it was moving so quickly, yet so slowly at the same time.

Remus laughed before lightly shoving Sirius backwards with his upper body. “Go,” he admonished lightly, “before you distract me and there’s nothing to eat.”

There was a dramatic sigh, which made Remus smile, before Sirius began setting up the table with a few things that he hadn’t never seen for a while because he had no reason to use them.

After a few distractions, Remus finally finished cooking and prepared the plates. It was a simple fettuccine alfredo topped with chicken, in which Sirius insisted Remus use the ‘light’ sauce instead of the original trying to make it less fattening. Sirius carried the plates over to the table and they both dug into the meal.

Sirius gave loud proclamations on how good the food was. _“Oh my God, Remus. You are a God!” “This is amazing.” “Orgasmic.”_ (which made Remus choke on his chicken) _“Now I know you’re never leaving here.”_

Near the end of their dinner, Remus asked Sirius something that he had always wanted to know about him, “How did you know you were gay? Or, like, when. I know you said you struggled when you found out, but you never really said how it came to be that way.”

Sirius twisted his face in mock of thinking real hard. “I was in denial when I was twelve when I noticed that I had no interest in girls sexually and looked at boys more. By the time I was fifteen, I had learned to accept it.

“It was really hard, you know, trying so hard to fit in with the rest of them. I dated at least ten girls before I could admit to myself that I preferred cocks. I tried to have sex with a girl and realized I couldn’t really…perform, I guess. So that’s when I finally got over my denial and started accepting it, eventually.”

There’s a silence that’s only filled with clinking of silverware. Sirius looked up at Remus and asked, “What about you? I know you said you recently found out, which I don’t blame you for switching sides really, because there’re some sexy blokes like me out there. But what made you realize?”

Remus chuckled at Sirius’ grin. Sirius had the ability to be charming even when he was being egotistical.

“I guess I kind of ignored the signs that were there. I don’t know what I was thinking because they were all there, but I guess I just wanted to be normal,” he answered with a sigh as he twirled a few pieces of pasta on his fork. “I was with my last girlfriend and she…”

Remus laughed awkwardly as a blush seeped onto his face and he tried to his face under his hand. Sirius grinned as well and encouraged Remus to continue, “Just say it. I’m not judging.”

Remus shook his head and slipped his hand off his face. “Well she…she wanted to try…anal sex and I agreed. So while we were – you know – there was a point where I thought she was a bloke and that turned me on more than knowing that it was a girl. Every time I’ve done it with a girl it’s always been perfunctory, but when we did it that way I knew something was different and it scared me a lot. But I came to terms with it pretty fast, probably because subconsciously I always knew. So yeah, that’s my story.”

Sirius nodded understandingly before talking about how fast James had taken to his orientation. “All he said was, ‘That’s cool, now what do you reckon Durmstrang is like this year?’. Later he told me he sort of had a feeling I was bent, but never really knew for sure.”

They finished their meal and Sirius swept away the remains and placed the dirty dishes in the sink. Remus tried to help but was waved away by Sirius.

“Time for that tour!” Sirius chimed as he grabbed Remus’ hand and dragged him out of the kitchen.

Remus was intimidated by the sheer size of the house and the expensive trinkets it contained. The kitchen had state of the art appliances that put the kitchen he worked in to shame. The living room held an expensive TV and surround sound with a good portion of the game systems available that Remus knew cost just about half a year’s worth of his pay. It made Remus a bit affronted by the way Sirius showed off his money with fancy cars and luxury items in his home. He worked hard to get the flat he lived in now, and he didn’t want Sirius to be badmouthing it if he ever saw it.

Remus followed and laughed as Sirius made a big show of his house. He showed him the guest bedroom that was filled with a small dresser and closet along with a queen sized bed. There were a few picture frames that Remus didn’t get a chance to look at before he was whisked away and shown the dining room that didn’t have a dining table and only contained an empty bureau. After, there was the bathroom that looked like it was rarely used. Next came the living room, which Remus had already seen and had been deeply impressed by, and the sitting room that contained a small fireplace with a couch and a rug. Then they headed upstairs.

There were two rooms on opposite sides and a bathroom at the end of the small hall. On the left was Sirius’ bedroom, in which Remus received a wink and a cheeky suggestion of, “This tour does do detours when requested.”

Remus snorted and looked into the large room with a king sized bed opposite the door, decked out with white sheets and red duvet. All the furniture was made of black wood, like the framing of the bed with the headboard and the small nightstand next to the bed. There was a door leading into the bathroom and a door leading into what seemed to be a walk-in closet on the right side of the room. To the left of the bed and on the left side of the room is a wide window that looked out into the street with a window seat decorated white cushions and pillows. The closest wall harbored a small plasma TV complete with a DVD player near the corner and a wall length mirror to the right of it.

All in all, Remus thought the room was normal and on the bland side, save for the coloring. He would have expected to have seen some clothes thrown everywhere, but so far Sirius seemed like a clean and tidy person, sort of opposite of what Remus was like at home.

“I like it,” Remus told Sirius, smiling as Sirius stepped back from the room and pulled Remus so that they were in front of the next room.

“This is where the magic happens!” Sirius said with a maniac grin as he gently pushed Remus into the room on the opposite side and flipped on the light switch.

“Wow,” escaped Remus’ mouth as he stepped towards the center of the room and looked around.

The liveliness of the room surprised Remus. The white walls were covered with hundreds of hand-drawn pictures. On the right was a window that also looked over the street, but without a windowsill. The left wall had a door to the closet that was opened and looked like it was filled with art supplies and two large bookshelves taking up most of the space on the wall side by side. The left side was filled from the bottom with mostly vinyl records and above it, a good amount of collectable figurines and art pieces. The right side was filled to the brim with comics in plastic cases and the top shelf displayed three thick graphic novels that Remus guessed were part of Sirius’ work. On the far wall, two desks took up the whole wall with no space in between. The left desk had a white shine to it with a large picture frame sitting in the corner and had pencils, pens, and papers with sketches strewn about, making it look messy. The right desk was the same dark wooden color as his bedroom, but was wider than the other desk. This desk held his laptop and other office supplies like his printer and scanner. Between the desk and the adjacent wall was a small, old record player that looked past its prime with a short stack of old 70s punk rock records to the side of it. The wall opposite the desks only held drawings, but in the corner was a tarp placed on the ground and an easel. There was a blank canvas leaning against the wall, but no completed paintings for Remus to see.

This was Remus’ favorite room. It had character and the feeling of joy. He felt as though this was the room that summed up Sirius the best. It wasn’t cold and bare; it was warm and lived in.

“This room is nice,” Remus commented as soon as he could find his tongue.

Sirius grinned. “Thanks,” he said as he stood by Remus with his arms crossed. “It took me a while to get all the pictures on the wall, but they got there eventually.”

Remus nodded towards the comic books. “That’s a pretty extensive collection.”

“I’ve collected them since I was a kid,” Sirius explained. “Mum didn’t like it. Said they were rotting my brain and giving me wild fantasies. So I hid them all and kept most of them.”

Remus turned toward the pictures on the wall behind him and looked at each one. Some were characters he recognized like Batman and The Green Lantern, but there were other drawings of original characters, zombies, animals, and portraits. He wanted to inspect each one and see where the lines crossed and filled the page; he imagined Sirius’ hand swiping across the page rapidly.

“You’re really good,” Remus complemented genuinely as he raised his hand and traced a picture of a wolf.

“Thanks,” Sirius replied with a barely noticeable flush to his cheeks. He was happy that Remus liked his work. For some reason, he had been more nervous to show Remus his work than to let his critics and fans see it. Sirius never really let anyone into his work room except for the Potters and the occasional work friend who came over. Otherwise, Remus was one of the few lucky people that actually got to see the rare pictures he drew and posted on the walls.

“How long have you been drawing? I’ve never asked you that yet, have I?” Remus asked Sirius, his eyes still trained to the sea of blacks, whites, and colors on the wall in front of him.

“No, but I’ve been drawing for a long time. Drawing for a purpose a little more than twelve years I think, but I’ve always doodled on my papers, ever since primary, I guess,” Sirius answered. “I used to make up little comic strips in the header of my paper, and James eventually started giving me ideas on what to draw. That’s how it all started really.”

“Sounds fun,” Remus replied as he finally tore his eyes away from the art and walked over to Sirius and stood in front of him.

“It is,” Sirius said as Remus stepped close and looped his arms around Sirius’ neck, making him smile. Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus’ waist.

“I guess my boyfriend is just amazing at drawing,” Remus said smiling in mock of what Sirius had said earlier, tilting his head to the side.

Sirius smirked, “You bet he is.”

He then pulled Remus flush against his chest as he swooped down and kissed Remus hard, knocking the air from his lungs. Even though they had snogged a bit ever since they started dating, Remus was always surprised at Sirius’ enthusiasm and the want in every kiss; it drove him crazy for more. It made him feel desired and wanted, better than anything in the world.

Sirius tightened his arms around Remus when Remus had nipped his bottom lip and ran his hand through his long hair. He slithered his tongue between Remus’ lips and sought out Remus’ tongue. The kiss became more heated and urgent as Sirius slipped his hands under the thin t-shirt Remus was wearing and began stroking the soft skin of Remus’ sides, feeling the contractions of his stomach.

Remus groaned and pushed himself closer to Sirius so that their chests were pressed up against one another to the point where they could feel each other’s fast-paced heartbeats. Remus pulled away from Sirius’ lips with a gasp for air before diving for the man’s throat. His hands ran down the other man’s chest and rubbed in a up and down motion as he kissed, licked, bit, and sucked his way down the pale throat, pushing the collar of Sirius’ shirt aside to reach the man’s clavicle.

Sirius hung his back and to the side to give Remus better access to his neck. His breathing was heavy as he muttered, “Shit, that’s good.” He moved them so that Remus was leaning up against the wall, barely noticing when the papers crinkled under their pressure.

After thoroughly marking Sirius’ neck, Remus pulled away and looked up at Sirius with a silly grin on his face. Sirius looked down at Remus with a similar grin as he took in the blown pupils, rosy cheeks, and reddened lips. He felt his heart skip a beat. Remus was even more alluring when he looked debauched, especially since Sirius was the one who was doing the defiling.

Sirius leaned forward to where his mouth was next to the other man’s ear and whispered, “You’re so beautiful.”

Remus huffed in disbelief and was about to voice his opinions, but was cut off when he felt a tongue against the shell of his ear. Sirius trailed his tongue down to his lobe and sucked on it briefly, making Remus dizzy. Sirius moved his way towards Remus’ jaw and noticed how Remus’ breath stuttered when he focused on his pulse point. He moved back to the reddened lips and crashed their mouths together in a messy kiss.

Sirius slid and rubbed his hands over Remus’ skin underneath his shirt, making the shorter man shiver. Remus tugged on the long locks on Sirius’ head and fisted his fingers on the collar of his shirt. When Sirius brushed his fingers across Remus’ nipples, Remus moaned deeply and bucked his hips forward.

The dark haired man pulled away from the kiss, groaning when he felt Remus’ hardness pressing up against his own. “Fuck,” he muttered as he drove his hips forward, reveling in the friction and the knowledge that Remus was just as turned on as he was.

Sirius lunged back in to Remus’ pulse point and said between sucking and nipping, “Can I touch you? I wanna touch you.”

Remus felt his knees go weak with a groan as he sagged against the wall. His hips seemed to have a mind of their own as they grinded themselves into the thigh that Sirius pressed between his legs. “Yes – hell yes, please,” Remus answered between labored breaths.

All of a sudden, Sirius pulled away from Remus and dragged him across the hall to his bedroom. They tore at each other’s clothes in a hurry as they climbed onto the bed.

This level of intimacy was a long time coming. There were a few times in the past few dates when he wanted to ask Remus to come home with him, but he always seemed to chicken out when he remembered that they wanted to take it slow. But it had gone slow enough. Remus drove him crazy to the point that a month ago he was already wanking to thoughts of how the other man would look against his crimson duvet.

Sirius cursed as he fumbled with the button on the other’s man’s jeans and Remus laughed at him. In retaliation Sirius bit down on the exposed hipbone making Remus hiss as he finally got the button undone and the jeans on the floor, his pants following not too long after. Remus helped him out of his own trousers and pants and they met the same fate as Remus’ on the floor.

There was some fumbling, trying to find the right position, and some elbows knocking into awkward places, but they managed to settle so that they Remus sat with his back against the headboard and Sirius straddled across his lap.

Remus was practically fully hard just from this sight alone. Sirius was very, _very_ good looking, especially underneath his clothes. He wasn’t buff, but he was nicely toned from his time in the gym. His eyes trailed over the sparse hair on his chest to the trail that led from his navel down to a patch of wiry black curls at the base of his hard cock. Sirius wasn’t very thick, but he was long, and Remus couldn’t help but stare at the reddened tip.

“See something you like?” Sirius asked in a husky voice as his hands massaged Remus’ stomach with his hands, drifting farther south with intent. Sirius’ eyes went from the bare chest that was covered with a few freckles and tiny scars, past the lean body, to the thin trail of hair under his navel that met with the dark brown hairs surrounding Remus’ prick. He was thicker than and a bit shorter himself, with more veins on the surface from what he could see, but Sirius wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. He’s been thinking about this moment for a while.

Remus, whose hands were resting on the other man’s thighs, answered saying, “Maybe.” He grinned as he lightly ran his fingertips up Sirius’ thighs and settled them on his hips, but his right hand hesitantly kept on going before gripping Sirius around the base and giving him a slow jerk. Remus couldn’t help but watch as he made Sirius stop and shiver just from touching him once.

“Fuck, Remus,” Sirius cried, then bringing Remus into a kiss that was all teeth and tongues before he mirrored Remus and grabbed at his cock. When he found he couldn’t move his hand that well without causing unwanted damage, Sirius practically fell over to reach his nightstand and yanked out a bottle of lube. He grabbed Remus’ hand, gave him some of the liquid before giving himself some and then quickly throwing the bottle to the side.

In the beginning, their strokes were random and awkward, but they eventually found a matching rhythm together. Their lips had separated in favor of breathing as they leaned their foreheads against one another’s. They breathed in each other’s air and scent of musk and sweat that floated around them. There was muttered curses, proclaimations, and commands of _harder, faster_.

Sirius didn’t know why, but just a simple handjob from Remus felt glorious. Just to think of what it’d feel like to have Remus buried in him was more than enough to take him to the edge.

“Come with me,” Sirius said between his gasps of air.

Remus unexpectedly obeyed when Sirius squeezed a bit firmer and twisted a bit at the top of his stroke in combination with the lusty toned used in the tone of his voice. His eyes squeezed shut and jaw slacked as he felt himself let go. Warm spurts of come covered Sirius’ hand as he jerked up and down furiously and Remus felt it shoot out onto his chest.

Watching Remus come undone beneath him, feeling him tremble underneath his hand and Remus gripping him tighter made him follow not half a dozen rapid strokes after, covering himself and a little bit of Remus in his own come. Remus helped him ride it through until his hips stopped rocking in tandem to the strokes.

Panting, Sirius rested his forehead on Remus’ shoulder. “Christ, that was bloody brilliant,” he said as he ran a hand through his hair that was disheveled.

Remus laughed and kissed his neck. “I definitely agree,” Remus replied with a smile as Sirius lifted his head and drew him into a slow kiss.

Sirius flashed him a grin as he broke away and he leaned back over to the nightstand to grab a few wipes from the drawer.

They cleaned themselves up as best as they could. Sirius took the trash and slowly got up off Remus, stretching his legs and back. He stiffly walked towards the bin in the corner of the room and threw the dirty wipes in the trash. Remus watched him serenely, watching how his muscles moved with every step he took.

Sirius walked back and then climbed onto the bed beside Remus. “Stay tonight?” Sirius asked quietly. Remus could see the hesitancy in his eyes, asking to see if it was alright, or if they were moving too fast to be considered slow.

“I mean, we don’t have to do anything,” Sirius babbled. “I have to go to work tomorrow, unfortunately, but you could leave whenever you get up, of course. It’s just late and-”

Remus silenced him with a soft kiss before giving him a smile and a nod. “I’ll stay.”

 

***

 

Sirius walked into his office the next morning with a hop in his step and grin on his face.

He had wakened in the morning to find a sleeping Remus curled around him, breathing softly. Sirius literally had to tear himself away from the other man to take his shower. He didn’t lock the door out of habit, because he usually was the only one in the house. After rinsing out the shampoo in his hair, he heard the shower curtain open to reveal Remus with a sleepy, but happy smile. What came next almost made him late for work, but feeling Remus naked and pressed up against him for a bit longer was worth skipping breakfast for.

“So who was your lucky shag?” James teased as Sirius walked past the glass wall and into the brightly-lit room. Seeing Sirius in this mood set James out on a quest to find out who had been keeping Sirius in such high spirits. James knew it was definitely the same man who made him skip an open invitation of free food three times in the past few months, if the size of the poorly covered hickeys on his friend’s neck was anything to go by.

Sirius grinned to himself as he placed his large case on top of the desk across from James. “No one special,” he droned with a small, pleased smile on his face as he thought back to that morning.

Remus and Sirius had agreed to keep their relationship secret for a while. Sirius didn’t want to jinx it or be teased about the best thing that had happened to him for a very long time, and Remus knew that it’d be his first official outing as a gay man to people he knew. There was also the fact that they met online, but that didn’t matter as much anymore because they could just say that they met somewhere else. It was sort of thrilling to have a secret lover that no else knew about, that no one else could pester them with questions about, but they agreed that, when the moment felt right, they would tell their friends and relatives.

James raised his eyebrow and leaned forward onto his elbows that were perched on the glowing table. “Oh really?” James said skeptically. “Because I have a hunch that you’ve been seeing this bloke for a while, mate. And I don’t mean a while as in ‘just a week before you eventually break up with him this week’ a while, but you haven’t even talked about him yet. I usually can’t get you to stop blabbering about your ruddy conquests.”

Sirius looked up at James and saw the look of genuine curiosity and a little bit of hurt at being left in the dark. Sirius usually told James everything that happened in his life, and he had kept Remus a secret. James wasn’t used to being left out of the loop.

Sirius slowly took out some of his papers of his bag as he replied, “I know, I know.” After he placed the paper on the table he stopped. He sighed and caved. Seeing James hurt, hurt him.

“I really like him, James,” Sirius said quietly as he fiddled with the edges of his drawings. “He’s smart, funny, sexy…everything I want, really.” He smiled manically as James grinned at his confession. “And would you believe it if I said he was chef?”

James laughed, “What?! Really? How the bloody hell did you manage that? No wonder you’ve been skipping meals at mine when you’ve got your own personal chef to cater to you.”

“Actually, last night was the first time he cooked for me,” Sirius said, a smile still firmly planted on his face. It felt good to finally tell James about Remus.

“No way, mate. I’d a figured you would’ve wrangled him in to doing that earlier.”

“Tried, but it didn’t work out until last night.”

James went quiet as he leaned back to sit up on his seat. “So, he’s a keeper,” he stated more questioned and Sirius nodded. “What’s his name?”

“Remus. Remus Lupin…And mate? Don’t tell Red, she’d be unbearable, and I don’t want to fuck this one up.”

 

 

**Early September**

 

 

When the door to Sirius’ house opened, Remus was a little surprised to another man on the other side. He would’ve been suspicious and a bit jealous if it weren’t for the fact that this man looked very similar to Sirius himself. _Regulus Black_ , Remus noted.

“You must be Remus,” the man stated with calculating eyes. He had the same eyes as Sirius, if a bit colder in their gaze. His hair was cropped shorter and his face thinner than Sirius’. Regulus was still good looking in his own right, but in Remus’ eyes, nothing compared to his brother.

Remus resisted the urge to step back and nodded. Regulus moved away from the doorway and let Remus in. As Regulus closed the door behind him, Remus turned and saw Sirius headed towards him.

“You’re early,” he stated, grinning.

Remus smiled as he looked at Sirius’ mussed hair and dark spots on his shirt. “You said to be here for dinner, and that you wouldn’t be having takeout, so I decided it was best to see that you didn’t burn your house down.”

“Nice to know how much confidence you have in me,” Sirius replied with a smile, contradicting the serious tone he had taken on.

“Well, at least he’s smart enough to know to not let you anywhere near the kitchen,” Regulus interjected smoothly, his arms crossed over his chest and feet apart slightly.

“Clearly,” Sirius deadpanned. “Anyway, Remus, this is my little brother Regulus or Reg and Reg, this is my sexy boyfriend, Remus Lupin.”

Remus gave Sirius a pointed look on the ‘sexy’ part, but shook the hand Regulus extended to him and exchanged pleasantries.

“I know I didn’t ask you earlier, but do mind if he eats with us?” Sirius asked. A line of worry etched onto his face.

Remus smiled gently, “Not at all.”

Sirius smiled widely and Remus noticed even Regulus smiled a little, or maybe just smirked at little at his brother’s behavior.

Sirius then led them into the kitchen, where Regulus proceeded to instruct Sirius on what to do, and often had to step in to make sure something catastrophic didn’t happen.

Remus grinned as the smell of cooking salmon filled the room. He had never had someone cook for him before. His smile may have also appeared due to the fact that Sirius and Regulus bickered back in forth like actual siblings. Remus never had a brother or sister and never really got to see how to kids growing up got to act around each other.

Eventually, Regulus got so fed up that he ended up waving Sirius away, sending him to get the wine, saying that the food was almost ready anyway.

When Sirius brought the bottle of wine and three glasses over to the table where Remus was sitting at, he said, “I tried to cook by myself by following the directions, but you know me, I had to mess something up. So I called Reg and he agreed to help me.” After he filled the three glasses, he placed the bottle on the table and took a seat next to Remus and sat facing him. “I wanted to surprise you with a home-cooked meal,” Sirius said quietly as Remus grabbed his hands and held them in his own. Sirius chuckled humorlessly to himself and scoffed, “Look how well that turned out.”

Remus grinned in a reassuring manner as he squeezed Sirius’ hands. He then leaned in and gave Sirius a lingering kiss. “It was very thoughtful of you, Sirius,” he said softly after he pulled away slightly, drawing circular patterns on the back of his hands. “I don’t mind that your brother had to help you out. And I know that it’s a cliché to say, but I mean it: it’s the thought that counts. And that’s all that matters to me. Alright?”

One side of Sirius’ mouth tugged upward and after a few seconds the other side joined it. Then he started laughing softly to himself. He turned his head to the side, trying to control his smile before looking at Remus. There was something in his eyes that made Remus’ stomach swoop and chest bloom in happiness.

“You – are – fucking – brilliant,” Sirius told him between kisses before giving him a deep kiss. He threaded their fingers together as they kissed slowly.

“Oi!” Regulus’ voice cried. “No shagging at the table! Dinner’s ready.”

They pulled away from each other, but stared at one another for a few seconds, knowing something great just happened.

“Sirius stop making eyes at your boyfriend and serve him the food you almost ruined,” Regulus commanded without even turning around to look at them.

Sirius chuckled and gave Remus another kiss before getting up and placing the food on some plates. The brothers brought over plates filled with rice, some black sauce, and a piece of salmon on top. Soon they all settled down with Sirius and Regulus sitting side by side and Remus sitting across from Sirius.

The dinner passed better than Remus had imagined it would with Regulus there. From the stories Sirius had told, Remus always thought that Regulus would be a bit more withdrawn, but he was sharp and quick with his words. The brothers had no problem talking about embarrassing stories that involved ripped pants and drunken nights. They awkwardly strayed into Sirius’ home life before he ran away, but Remus had smoothed it over by asking Regulus questions.

After the dinner ended and Regulus left, Remus and Sirius curled up on the couch, watching _Batman Begins_. Remus leaned up against Sirius’ chest, and Sirius’ arm wrapped around his waist, his slim fingers sliding underneath the fabric of his shirt to lightly massage the skin there.

As much as he loved the movie, Sirius’ mind was trailing everywhere, not staying on one subject for too long, but always came back to the problem of _home_. He had started thinking about it more since Regulus had come over, and they spoke a lot about his home life when he was younger.

Sirius had never been to Remus’ flat, never even been even outside the building itself. Whenever Sirius offered to drive him home or pick him up, Remus always deflected him or gave him some strange reasoning like he had to go to the market or some rubbish like that. At first Sirius wasn’t bothered by it, but after the third month of being shot down left and right, Sirius began to wonder.

Sirius loved having Remus at his house all the time. It was comfortable and easy having him over, almost to the point where he felt like that they were almost living together. Remus tended to be messy, but Sirius was always there to clean up right after him. Remus made the best dishes for dinner and sack lunches for work, sometimes giving him extras to give to James. He especially loved it when he found Remus walking around his house half naked in a pair of his boxers, but this all made him wonder what he was like at home. He wanted to know what his room looked like and if his room was a pigsty like he said it was. It all made Sirius curious.

Sirius had dropped many hints about going to Remus’ flat, but Remus never indulged him. He just chose to ignore the statements and went off onto other subjects. Tonight he wanted to know. He wanted know every part of Remus, because now he knew he was in love. He was in love with Remus Lupin, even though he had never seen his flat, even though they had never had actual sex yet, and even though Remus hadn’t told anyone that they were seriously seeing each other.

“Hey, Remus?” Sirius murmured into the soft tufts of brown hair.

“Mmm?”

“How come I’ve never been to your flat?” Straight to the point.

Remus stiffened against Sirius. He hadn’t been expecting that, nor did he want to think about it. He always felt guilty when he knew Sirius wanted to come over or at least see the outside of the building. He could see and hear the disappointment in him every time he evaded answering or completely made up a lie to make it impossible for him to.

“Just because,” Remus muttered into the firm chest beneath his head childishly, listening to the sound of his boyfriend’s breathing.

Sirius’ eyebrows rose. “Just because?” he restated, making sure that he heard what Remus said correctly.

“Yes.”

With his free hand, Sirius rubbed the side of his face. “Remus, please just tell me the truth,” Sirius firmly stated.

Remus sighed and broke away from Sirius’ grasp. He sat hunched forward, his elbows on his knees. They wouldn’t even look at each other.

“Why is it so important?” he questioned.

“Because we’ve been going out for a while, and whenever I even suggest stopping by you make up some bullshit excuse as to why I can’t,” Sirius grumbled as he crossed his arms.

“I’ve never made excuses just so you can’t come over,” Remus fibbed.

“Liar. You won’t even mention your flat, and you spend all your time around mine that I don’t even get the chance to suggest to go to yours,” he replied bitterly.

Remus was quiet for a few moments. In those moments Sirius thought that Remus was going to cave, but it never was that easy.

Remus slowly turned to look at with a stiff jaw. “If you didn’t like me here you could’ve just said so,” he said softly and a bit coldly before standing up and heading for the door.

Sirius was shocked. Where had that come from?

“What?!” Sirius yelled before hastily scrambling out of his seat and running after Remus. “Remus, that wasn’t what I meant!”

He grabbed Remus’ forearm and spun in front of him to block his way to the door. Remus jerked away from the firm grasp on his arm. Sirius tried to look Remus in the eyes, but Remus kept looking down or off to the side.

“What am I supposed to think, Remus?” Sirius asked, trying to explain himself. “I don’t know if you have some secret boyfriend at home, or if you’re hiding some secret family, or maybe if you live in some homeless shelter. I don’t fucking know. All I know is that you won’t even say anything about it, and I just want to know why!”

“Sirius,” Remus reasoned, “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

“No, we’re talking about this,” Sirius rigidly stated. “You can’t avoid it forever.”

After some silence where Remus’ head was spinning, knowing that he could go off at any second, but not wanting to, Sirius was getting antsy. He felt like he was backed into a corner.

“Just tell me what’s wrong,” Sirius said gently.

Remus took a deep breath and stepped back. “It’s because of this!” He threw his hands up in the air, gesturing to everything around him.

Sirius’ brows scrunched together in confusion. “Because of what?” he asked.

“Just look at it, Sirius,” Remus cried a bit hysterically. “You’ve got a fucking huge house that you live in by yourself. Your kitchen appliances are top of the line even though you can’t even cook. Not to mention your stove alone could pay five months of my rent. Everything in your living room for a year. Your cars maybe three years worth. You have money and you aren’t afraid of flaunting it.

“Do you know how long it took me to save up for my flat? Just over two years. It’ll take me another two years before I can even _think_ of buying a car. But don’t get me wrong, because I love my flat; I’m not ashamed of it. Sometimes the hot water doesn’t turn on, and sometimes the heat gets busted during the winter, and maybe once in a while my window won’t close all the way when it’s raining, but I love it because it’s mine.

“And the only reason why I didn’t want you there is because you’d find it offensive. And that makes me feel insulted. And even though you might not say it, you’d think how terrible the place is and what a poor neighborhood it is, but you’ve never been poor Sirius; you’ve never known what it’s like living paycheck to paycheck. And you probably never will. But that flat is the best thing I’ve got.”

Remus paused, gasping for air.

Sirius was frozen, and time seemed to stand still between them. His mouth hung open slightly, trying to digest everything that Remus said to him. He knew Remus wasn’t the richest person around, but he never knew that he only had enough for rent. Seeing Remus blow up on him made him a bit shell shocked.

After catching his breath and feeling a bit sorry at the stunned and hurt look on Sirius’ face, Remus said softly, “Do you remember our first date, Sirius? We walked out of the restaurant and stopped by your fancy Audi. You offered me a ride, but I declined and said that I was going to take the tube…Do you remember the look you gave me when I said that? It was a look of disbelief and a little disgust. Like someone could ever lower themselves to using public transport? You acted like it was below you. That’s why I never wanted you to come over. I didn’t want you to think that I was beneath you because I’m not. I work just as hard as you do, but somehow you came out with the better hand.”

Remus was looking at Sirius worriedly. He was afraid he had said too much, afraid that he went too far.

Sirius had closed his mouth and looked down at the wooden floors beneath him. He couldn’t help that he inherited the house or a good portion of the money he owned. A part of him was affronted because Remus had thought all he was, was the money he showed. He just liked having the nicest things; was there anything wrong with that?

He ran his hands through his hair and scratched the back of his head. Remus was shifting awkwardly where he stood. He had to say something, anything.

“I’m sorry if my possessions make you feel uncomfortable or whatever,” Sirius confessed with a bit of an edge to his voice. “But it’s not my fault that I was raised this way. And you’re right; I’ve never known what it’s like to worry about money. But there was a point in my life where I was technically homeless, and, if I didn’t have a best mate who could handle all my bullshit, I probably would’ve been on the streets for a while. And, in fact, I feel disappointed that you even think that a shitty neighborhood would make me think less of you and what you’ve done. I know you, Remus; I know how proud you are of the things you do. So why would you think that I would judge you or your flat because of the way it looks or where it’s at?”

There were guilty and hurt looks thrown between the two of them as they stood in silence, only the sound of explosions from the movie filling in the spaces.

“I don’t care if you live in a cardboard box,” Sirius said softly with a tight grin. He stepped forward and grabbed Remus’ hands that were picking at the end of his shirt. After intertwining their fingers he continued saying, “I’d still love you, cardboard box and all.”

Remus’ head, which was staring at their hands not a second ago, snapped up. The quick action brought Sirius to the realization of what he had said and his eyes widened, but he wouldn’t take back what he said, even if he could, because he wasn’t lying.

Remus’ gaped a bit like a fish. Weren’t they just fighting a minute ago? Declarations of love usually didn’t fit into yelling matches. He was surprised that Sirius said those four words because he knew Sirius had never said those words to his exes and that meant a lot to him.

Sirius took in the staggered response from Remus, seeing that it was a disbelief shock, not a panicked kind of shock, and laughed lightly. “I’m in love with you, Remus,” he said firmly. It felt great to say it. He really did feel like shouting it from his rooftop. Maybe he’d try it sometime. Remus would probably say it was embarrassing, but would secretly be pleased.

“You’re…” Remus said trailing off, not finishing the words.

“Madly, stupidly, recklessly, every other ‘l-e’ out there in love with you,” Sirius replied and squeezed the other man’s hands. “And if you make me say it again, I’m pretty sure I’m going to go mental soon.”

Remus shook his head and grinned. Sirius loved him, and he loved Sirius, too. He knew he did a couple of weeks ago when Sirius fell asleep on his shoulder and promptly drooled onto his shirt, and Remus found that he didn’t mind one bit, didn’t mind his morning breath and gentle snores.

“That’s impossible because you’re already mental,” Remus teased with a grin.

Sirius laughed, but it was just past half-hearted. He had expected to hear ‘I love you’ back. He wasn’t going to push it if Remus didn’t want to say it, but it would’ve been nice to hear all the same.

Remus hung his head for a few seconds and drew circles on the back of Sirius’ hands with his thumbs. He looked back up to see Sirius looking at him half-curious and half-hurt. Remus leaned forward slowly and gave Sirius a chaste kiss.

“I love you too, Sirius,” he said as he moved back slightly to see Sirius’ face fully which was breaking out in a face-splitting grin. “And I’m sorry that I judged you and never let you see my flat.”

“Well, I guess I can forgive you for now.”

“For now?”

“Yes, for now, because I haven’t seen your flat yet. Let’s go now and then maybe I can completely forgive you.” He smiled widely with a wicked gleam in his eye.

“Now?” Remus squeaked.

Sirius nodded enthusiastically. “I want to see the dwellings of Remus Lupin, the love of my life.” He laughed as he started dragging Remus over to where their shoes were and started pulling them on. Remus barely noticed when Sirius ran around the house and shut everything off and appeared back in front of him.

Remus’ heart stuttered a little. He wasn’t ready to have Sirius come over yet. His place was a complete disaster. Although, it probably would never be completely clean. The only problem was that he had so much stuff and sometimes he kept things for sentimental reasons even though he really didn’t need them.

“Come on, get your shoes on,” Sirius told Remus and lined his shoes up in front of him for him.

Remus did as he was told and followed Sirius out to his motorcycle. Sirius quickly climbed on and grabbed his helmet.

“No, we’re not taking your bike,” Remus spit out. He hated the motorcycle, he felt like at anytime someone could hit them or he could fall off and get run over.

Sirius merely raised an eyebrow and extended the extra helmet to him. “And how else do you expect to park at 10:30 at night?”

Remus rolled his eyes and jammed the helmet onto his head. He climbed on behind him and held on for dear life as Sirius tore down the streets of London in the directions that Remus pointed him.

Sirius was excited as hell. His blood thrummed through him as he sped around with Remus’ arms firmly attached to his waist. He couldn’t wait to see Remus’ house. It was going to be spectacular, no matter how much Remus was going to complain.

It was only a fifteen minute motorcycle ride to Remus’ flat, mainly because Sirius speeded through the streets and cut off many people, which caused him to be honked at many times, but he was too thrilled to care.

They stopped outside of an old, dirty building, and Sirius parked his bike in a small spot on the street. He berated himself for thinking that he was glad that he didn’t take his car, worried that it was could get keyed or broken into. Sirius told himself that he couldn’t think like that about Remus’ flat.

Remus led him into the building, where the main gate security didn’t work and hadn’t for a while. They walked up the stairs, because there was no elevator, all the way up to the third floor. The rusted number on the door read 38 and Remus slowly opened up the door to the darkened flat.

“Sorry about the mess,” Remus told him.

As Remus turned on the lights, Sirius breathed in a smell that was so distinctly Remus, old books and a hint of spice. The room was a small living room with a tattered, forest green sofa sitting in the middle and a small coffee table and end table. The couch faced the right wall, where a small TV was set up. All the around the living room were stacks of books of various sizes. Newspapers and socks covered the open spaces. The walls were painted a dull yellow color and there were two photos mounted on them. There were two large book shelves filled with books. In the corner closest to him, on the left side of the room, was a desk and an old computer next to a door that looked like a short hall way to the bedroom and bathroom.

On the far side was a small kitchen made of cheap wooden cabinets and old appliances. To the right of the kitchen is the tiny dining table, fit for two, where there is also a sliding glass door that opened up to the balcony, the only sort of window in the room.

All in all Sirius thought the place summed up Remus very well. He couldn’t imagine Remus living in a place like his house by himself. This place had such a homey feel that Sirius felt out of place, just like he had when he was younger at the Potter’s home.

Sirius beamed at Remus. “I love it.” He took off his shoes and walked around the room, looking at all the books and various knick-knacks that were scattered around the room. When he was pleased with what he saw, he moved over to the couch. He flopped down on it and smiled at Remus, who was still standing next to the door.

Remus smiled back at him and felt more at ease; he shouldn’t feel uncomfortable in his own home. He could tell that Sirius was telling the truth when he said he liked the place. Sirius had a habit of fidgeting when he was trying to lie his way through something.

He walked over to his couch and sat down next to Sirius, their thighs pressed up against each other’s. Sirius sat forward so that his side was pushed up against his lover’s and kissed behind his ear.

“Thank you for showing me your flat,” he whispered and leaned his head against the side of Remus’. “I know it was hard.”

Remus turned to look at Sirius, their faces only a few inches away from each other. “I’m sorry; I really didn’t mean to keep you in the dark,” Remus admitted quietly as his fingers tapped his knees.

Sirius smiled soothingly at him. “I know,” he replied. He placed a hand behind Remus’ neck and brought him into a slow, relaxing kiss. After they pulled away, Sirius whispered, “I love you, Remus. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t, I promise.” Remus gave Sirius a lingering kiss before grabbing his hand and standing up.

Sirius looked up at Remus with a bit of surprise. Remus laughed at the look on his face and gave his hand a light tug. “Come on,” he said as Sirius stood up. “I haven’t shown you the best room yet.”

Remus threw a grinning Sirius a heated look over his shoulder as he dragged Sirius through the small hallway. Sirius glanced into the bathroom and found it to be the size of a cubicle, if not just a little bit bigger. Sirius looked forward just in time to see Remus flick on the light switch that turned on a lamp on the nightstand.

Remus’ bedroom was about half the size of the living room, with a full size bed that had white sheets and a thick brown blanket on top on the wall opposite the door. To the left was the small nightstand that had the lamp and a small stack of books on top of it. The left side of the room held the closet with sliding doors. The wall closest to them had a smaller bookcase filled with older, and more used looking books than the ones out in the living room. On the right was a window with blinds that were shut.

While Sirius was inspecting the room, he barely noticed it when Remus had started undressing him with a wicked smile. Sirius had snapped back into reality and began undressing Remus as well.

Soon enough they were naked on top of Remus’ bed kissing and touching each other slowly. It was the slowest form of foreplay that they could stand at the moment, with soft, lingering touches and light kisses on top of their heated flesh. They ground their hardening cocks against each other, reveling in the arousal and pleasure it sent in waves across their bodies.

Sirius kissed his way up Remus’ neck and to his ear; when they were both hard and weeping at their tips, he whispered softly, “Make love to me, Remus.”

Remus pulled away from Sirius to look down at him. He could see the adoration and complete love in his eyes. Remus couldn’t speak, so he nodded, suddenly feeling euphoric that they were going to go all the way.

Remus reached over with shaky hands to his nightstand and brought out his condoms and lube, tossing them on the bed beside them.

Sirius sat up and rubbed his arms, whispering in calming tones. He picked up the lube and gave Remus a good amount on his fingers. Sirius kissed Remus softly before he leaned back onto the bed, lifted his legs towards his chest, and guided Remus’ hand towards his puckered hole. Remus’ breathing was rapid as he slipped a finger inside of Sirius, and watched hungrily as Sirius’ hole seemed to eat up his finger greedily. Sirius gasped and threw his head back into the pillow.

Remus didn’t do this with Dani; she had prepared herself. So he felt a little lost as he thrust his finger slowly in and out.

“Another finger, Remus,” Sirius told him, a little breathlessly, and Remus nodded absentmindedly.

Sirius stoked himself lightly as Remus added his middle finger to the thrusting, opening Sirius up more to fit him. Remus scissored his fingers and when Sirius began canting his hips to his finger’s thrusts, he added the third finger. Sirius gasped as Remus stretched him more and thrust a bit harder.

Sirius didn’t mind that Remus didn’t really know what he was doing, but he was a fast learner, so he made up for it with how quickly he aimed to get it right.

Remus began curling his fingers, trying to find the bundle of nerves that he knew was supposed to be there. When Sirius cussed and thrust he hips upward, he knew he had found it. He found the spot again and again, each time earning a cry from Sirius.

“I need you in me,” Sirius then said, opening his eyes, and looked at Remus. “I want you inside me, now, Remus.”

Remus almost came at the words and lusty look, barely noticing that he was as hard as a rock, and quickly gripped the base of his erection to stave off his orgasm. He picked up a condom when he knew that he wasn’t going to be finishing before anything started, and fumbled with opening it up. After almost ripping the condom, he rolled the condom onto himself and rubbed the extra lube from his fingers onto his cock.

Sirius watched and felt his heart swell when Remus leaned forward and lined up his erection with his opening. He looked down at himself as he slowly entered Sirius’ body.

The dark haired man took calming breaths as Remus filled him, stretching him up even more. It stung a bit, especially since his dildos didn’t match Remus’ size, and it had been a while, but all the pain was definitely worth it. He wanted Remus in him and around him always.

Remus stopped and breathed heavily when he bottomed out. Sirius was tight and clenching around him. It felt wonderful, amazing, exhilarating. He wondered why they waited so long to do this. “Oh my God, you’re so tight,” he muttered and resisted the urge to pound wildly into him.

He must have stopped moving longer than he thought because Sirius started to slowly move his hips, signaling him to start moving. Slowly, Remus made tiny movements, getting lost in the feel of Sirius around him. Then he gradually began moving faster, Sirius matching his thrusts with the rise of his hips.

The whole moment was breathtaking. Their eyes connected as Remus thrust in and out. Sirius grabbed a hold onto Remus’ neck and pulled him down into a chaotic kiss, trying to convey his feelings. When the strain got to be too much, he broke away gasping and laid fully back down. Sirius then grabbed onto Remus’ hips to get him to move faster.

Remus was always quiet through their encounters, filled with breathy moans and the occasional quiet exclamation. Sirius was vocal and tended to babble when he was completely lost. He had no problem letting his partner know how much pleasure he was feeling.

“Fuck, Remus, faster, please, faster.”

Remus paused for a second to readjust his knees and himself against Sirius’ thighs. When he began thrusting again, Sirius cried out in pleasure, “Oh, shit, right there.”

Remus grinned down at Sirius before continuing to hit Sirius’ prostate with every movement he made. Sirius was babbling nonsense and whispering ‘I love you’ over and over again. All of a sudden Remus felt the tightening in his belly. Hearing Sirius and feeling him all around him was getting to be too much and knew he was about to come. He reached down and started to stroke Sirius in tandem to his thrusts.

All of a sudden Remus’ orgasm snuck up on him when Sirius purposely clenched around him. “Shit, _Sirius_ , I’m coming,” he cried and his hips made tiny, stuttering movements as his thighs trembled.

Sirius looked up at Remus with heavy breaths and knew he was almost there, the look on Remus’ face alone almost sending him over the edge. He grabbed at Remus’ hand which as stopped moving and gripped his wrist to get him moving again. Remus took the hint and began stroking him quickly and firmly. After just a few strokes Sirius lost it and thick ropes of come shot out onto his chest. “Ahh, Remus, fuck.”

They laid there for a few moments just looking at each other before their limbs began getting stiff. Remus slipped out of Sirius and they both moaned slightly. He tore off the condom, tied it off and threw it in the direction of the trash can, not really caring if it made it or not. Remus grabbed his shirt from the corner of the bed and wiped Sirius up with it before tossing it off the bed.

Then Remus shut off the light and laid down beside Sirius, pulling them under the blankets. Sirius immediately curled up against him and tangled their legs together.

“We should fight more often,” Sirius mentioned sleepily while Remus laughed and smack him in his chest.

They kissed lethargically as they fell asleep between whispers and heavy breathing.

**Early October**

 

 

Sirius stepped into the diner, his heavy boots clunking against the linoleum flooring as he made his way onto a bar stool. He placed his helmet up onto the white table next to him and glanced around the place. The restaurant looked a little familiar, but he shrugged it off.

“Hey, doll,” said a female voice, and Sirius looked away from the window to see and slim, nice looking middle aged woman standing in front of him. Her light blonde hair was tied up into a loose bun and she wore a light amount of make-up. “What would you like to drink?”

“Um, water is fine,” he replied as his fingers absentmindedly rubbed against the sleeves of his leather jacket. “Can you tell Remus that his friend’s here?”

The lady, _Louisa_ , raised her eyebrows, but merely turned around and walked over a few steps to where there was a wide space opening between the kitchen and the dining area. Sirius could see the tops of some peoples’ heads, wearing chef’s hats. He couldn’t see Remus.

“Natty? Where’s Remus?” Louisa asked the lady closest to her.

Natty, a short woman who Sirius could only see the hat of, must of made a gesture because Remus then came into the gap with a blank look on his face. His mouth moved, and Sirius couldn’t read what he said.

Louisa pointed towards Sirius, “Your friend wanted me to tell you that he’s here.” Louisa then grabbed a plate that was shoved up onto the pass and set out to deliver it.

Remus looked to where she was pointed and found Sirius staring at him. Sirius grinned threw up his hand in a short wave. Remus grinned widely back with a shake of his head and gave him a sign that said one minute to which Sirius nodded understandingly.

A minute later, Remus came out of the kitchen with a look of happiness on his face, which Sirius smiled broadly about.

“Well don’t you look dashing,” Sirius teased good-naturedly as he took in the black cap wrapped around his head and white jacket. Remus rolled his eyes.

“’lo, Sirius,” Remus greeted with a smile as he came to a stop on the other side of the counter and leaned forward on his elbows. “What’re you doing here?”

“Well, I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by. Not to mention I was getting hungry,” Sirius replied cheekily.

“So you’re staying for lunch?”

“Only if you want,” he replied as Louisa stopped by them and set down a glass of water in front of him. Sirius gave her a ‘thanks’ and took a long drink from it.

“Yes, I want,” Remus teased. “Pete’s here, you don’t mind if he sits with us, do you?”

Sirius shook his head, “Not at all.”

Remus nodded. “Alright, go sit in the corner booth over there and I’ll bring out some food.”

The other man did as he was told and sat down in the clean booth with his back to the wall and helmet on the seat beside him. There weren’t a lot of patrons in the diner since it was 2:30 and it would be considered a late lunch.

Fifteen minutes later Remus came out in just his trousers and undershirt without his cap and jacket on. Behind him was a short chubby man with short blonde hair. This was Peter Pettigrew, Remus’ best mate, and Sirius felt more nervous than he thought he should.

Remus threw him a bright smile as he set down the plates on the table and slid into the booth next to him. Sirius resisted the urge to kiss him; he didn’t know if Remus wanted to do anything with him in plain view of his coworkers.

“Sirius, this is my best mate, Peter. Pete, this is my boyfriend, Sirius,” Remus said introducing them as Peter took a seat in the booth in front of them.

“Pleasure,” Sirius said with a grin as he stuck out his hand.

Pete shot him a toothless smile and shook his hand. “Likewise.” Peter seemed nice, even though he wasn’t very good looking.

Remus smiled at both of them as he gestured Sirius to eat. “Ham sandwich with practically everything on it.”

“Mmm,” Sirius moaned as he picked up the sandwich and peered inside to see an array of colors. He took a large bite out of it and slouched in his seat. “Delicious.”

“Remus always makes the best sandwiches,” Peter commented.

Sirius made a noise of agreement. “He should open a deli. But if he did I’m afraid I wouldn’t leave the shop. Then I’d get fat and Remus wouldn’t want to have sex with me anymore.”

Peter snorted as Remus jokingly shoved his shoulder, giving him a heatless glare.

They made idle chatter as Remus and Peter told them about some of the people who worked there and about their routine. Sirius heard stories from when they were naïve and working together for the first time. Peter asked Sirius about his job and seemed very interested when he said he was a graphic novelist. Peter used to be really into comics when he was younger, so he was more than lively when they talked.

“So, where’d you guys meet?” Peter asked curiously as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“Um,” Sirius said and glanced at Remus. It was his choice on what he should say to his friend. They had talked about what they were going to say when they were asked that certain question, but they never decided on anything.

Remus caught Sirius’ glance and looked at Peter. He didn’t deserve to be lied to. Especially since he was the whole reason he met Sirius in the first place, he earned the truth. “Actually, Peter,” Remus said slowly. “I took your advice.”

Peter looked confused. “What advice?”

Sirius placed his hand on Remus’ knee.

“I met Sirius on an online dating site,” Remus admitted. “Just like you suggested I do. So, thank you for giving me that idea. I didn’t mean to be such a prat about it.”

The eyebrows on Peter’s face rose past the fringe of his hair. “Really?”

Remus just smiled and nodded as he placed his hand over Sirius’ on his knee. “I would have never met Sirius without your idea,” Remus said smiling.

“Wow, I thought you were really against the idea,” Peter prattled as Remus shrugged. He then looked at Sirius. “No offense or anything, mate, but why were you on the site? You look like you could get any bloke you wanted.”

Sirius shifted a bit uncomfortably. “Yes, well,” Sirius said. “I didn’t want people just judging me for my looks so I went onto the site and found Remus. It was the best decision of my life so far.”

Remus turned to look at Sirius and gave him a loving smile as he squeezed the smooth, pale hand below his. Sirius grinned back. It was a very flattering comment.

Peter smiled at both of them, feeling very happy for Remus, before glancing at the clock on the wall beside them. “ _Great_ ,” Peter mumbled sarcastically. “Break’s over.” Peter began climbing out of the booth and then collected the plates as the other two helped him stack them up. “I’ll let you say goodbye to Sirius alone.” He gave them a mischievous wink before juggling the plates back into the kitchen.

“I’ll walk you to your bike,” Remus told Sirius before he slid out of the booth. Sirius climbed out behind him with his helmet in hand and walked with him outside.

It was sunny out, so they had to squint a little in the sunlight as soon as they stepped outside. Since there weren’t a lot of customers, Sirius was able to get a spot right outside the diner, a spot viewable through the windows.

They stopped beside his bike and turned towards each other.

“Thanks for lunch,” Sirius said. “I’ll have to take you out for some soon.”

Remus rolled his eyes. “There’s no need.”

Sirius merely shrugged as he tilted his head to the side and asked, “Can I kiss you?”

This threw Remus off a little. Sirius had never really asked him that before. It was a bit odd for Sirius to be asking for permission.

Remus gave him a confused look and replied, “Why would you ask that?”

The taller man pointed to the windows. “They can see us and I don’t know if you wanted them to know that you were gay now. Since I know that you were dating girls before and didn’t exactly tell them tha-”

Sirius was cut off by Remus bringing him into a hard bruising kiss that made him lean back onto the seat of his bike. Remus ran his hands through the black locks and Sirius wrapped his arms tightly around Remus’ waist as he responded enthusiastically. Remus wasn’t letting down as he opened Sirius’ mouth and slid his tongue along his gums and over his teeth, eventually tangling with Sirius’. The brown haired man groaned as Sirius dipped his hands into his back pockets and brought their crotches together.

Remus was getting lightheaded and eventually pulled away from Sirius and leaned their heads together to catch their breath.

“Never – ask me that again.”

 

 

**Late November**

 

 

He was in a sleepy haze as he started to wake up. He felt pressure on his hips and knew that he was going to be either waking his boyfriend up or taking a trip to the shower in hopes it went away.

As consciousness awakened him, he became aware of his own rapid breathing and a rhythmic pressure on his groin. He blearily opened his eyes and looked down at his crotch. He moaned that the sight of a brown haired man, bobbing his head up and down on his prick, both hands holding his hips down on the bed. “Fuck, Remus,” he groaned as he watched the other man look up at him.

Remus’ eyes were hooded and his dark red lips were wrapped tightly around his cock as he tried to smile at Sirius. He pulled away from Sirius with a hard suck and grinned up at Sirius while his hand pumped him a few times. Sirius became harder at the sight of Remus’ wet, swollen red lips.

“Happy Birthday, love,” Remus said with a lusty grin as he moved back down. Sirius leaned up onto his elbows and watched as Remus mouthed at his heavy sac, sparsely covered with dark hairs, his tongue swiping and circling.

“God,” Sirius hissed. “Best birthday, ever.” He ran one hand through Remus’ hair and tugged lightly to try to move him back to cover his cock in the tight, wet heat of his mouth.

Remus obliged, mainly because it was his birthday. He connected eyes with Sirius before he slipped his mouth around his length. Sirius moaned lightly again as Remus did wicked things with his tongue along his shaft. They never broke eye contact as Remus moved his head quickly with hard sucks and tight jerks with his hand over the base of his erection.

Sirius was close’ he could feel the coiling heat low in his belly the tightening in his balls. “Remus, I’m going to come,” Sirius bit out as he tried to pull Remus off him.

Remus kept going and tried to say something, but it did nothing more than send vibrations through Sirius that took him just to the brink, and Remus knew it. Remus paused and took a deep breath before relaxing his throat. He was practicing this, more as a surprise for Sirius because Sirius did it to him a few times and it felt more than amazing.

Remus made sure his throat was very relaxed before holding Sirius still and inched as much of his length as he could into his mouth. Remus felt it hit the back of his throat and proudly held back his gag. Sirius cursed at the sight of Remus, still holding eye-contact, deep-throating him. Remus usually started gagging, but he got Sirius’ whole length down and as soon as Remus swallowed around his tip, he was done for. He cried as he came hard into Remus’ mouth and watched as Remus swallowed every last drop.

Sirius was a shuddery mess against his sheets and laid back down as he felt Remus clean him up. Afterward, Remus kissed up his body until they were at eye level.

“Bloody hell, Remus,” Sirius muttered. “Where did that come from?”

Remus smiled down at him and tried as best as he could to shrug from his position above him. Sirius gently pulled him down so that Remus was lying directly on top of him and felt that he wasn’t hard at all. Sirius frowned and looked down at Remus.

“Came without you even touching me,” he admitted blushing, although how he could blush any further with his face all red anyway was a mystery.

“I’m just that good,” Sirius said smugly and kissed Remus, tasting himself in his mouth.

Remus broke the kiss after a minute and said, “You’re going to be late for work again if you don’t get up now.”

Sirius groaned as he covered his eyes with his arm. “I can’t believe I have to work on my birthday! And on the day you have off no less!”

Remus just laughed and kindly pushed him in the direction of the edge of the bed. “Go, Sirius,” he chastised as he watched Sirius rolled to the side, but the smile on his face cancelled out the harsh tone. “The faster you leave the faster you get back.”

Sirius slowly turned his head to look at Remus with a curious look. “Who knows, I might just stay naked in bed all day,” Remus said nonchalantly as he laid completely back, exposing himself fully to Sirius and resting his head on his arms behind his head.

“Really?” Sirius questioned with wide eyes.

Remus simply smiled and waved Sirius off.

Sirius raced off through his morning routine and was sad to see Remus wearing a pair of boxers in the kitchen. He wolfed down his breakfast and before he left, Remus shoved a sack lunch and a present into his hands.

“It’s a clue on what your gift is,” Remus explained. “You can open it at work.”

Sirius felt the present in his hands. “It’s a book, isn’t it,” Sirius stated as he flipped the package around in his hands and rapped one side with his knuckles.

Remus shrugged and replied, “Maybe it is; maybe it isn’t. Just open it.”

“Alight,” Sirius agreed shaking his head. He leaned in and gave Remus a kiss before running out the door into his garage.

“Remember to hurry back,” Remus called with a wink as he leaned against the doorway and watched Sirius climb into his Audi A6 sedan.

Sirius was a little hard for the better part of the day at work and couldn’t seem to concentrate on getting his drawings done. He kept messing up Patrick’s round nose, thinking of a naked Remus at home in his bed. Sirius would stop in the middle of his drawings and stare off into space of a while. James kept giving him weird glances, but never questioned him.

After eating their lunches, Sirius took out the present Remus gave him from his bag.

“Remus said that this was a hint to what my present is going to be,” Sirius explained to James as he ripped open the wrapping quickly to get to the present, spying the color yellow before opening it up completely.

It was a book, like he had guessed earlier, but a very specific one titled **Dogs For Dummies**.

Dogs?  
Dogs.  
Dogs!

Sirius grinned widely to James across the table and showed him the cover. “Dogs!” Sirius hollered. “He’s getting me a dog!”

James laughed. “I thought you didn’t want a dog to ruin your precious flooring,” he remarked.

“Screw the flooring. Remus is getting me a dog! I should call him.” Sirius pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons before stopping. “No wait. I shouldn’t.” He then slid the phone over to James. “I can’t call him.”

James looked at Sirius like he was on drugs, which was how a lot of people looked at him so it was normal. He picked up the phone and saw a different background from what it usually was. There was a man with mussed brown hair, sleeping without a shirt on from what he could see, and his mouth slightly open. He was lying on his stomach with his arms tucked under the pillow.

James turned the phone around to show Sirius what he was looking at with a raised eyebrow. “Is that Remus?”

Sirius looked up from the book. He glanced at the phone before blushing lightly. Ever since he got the phone he hadn’t changed the background from the default, saying that he never had anything worth seeing every time he looked at his phone. “Yeah, that’s him,” Sirius confessed.

The other man grinned and set the phone down. “Not bad, Black. Not bad at all.”

 

***

 

“Remus!” Sirius yelled as soon as he made it home in record time. He shucked off his shoes and coat before unbuttoning his shirt and running up the stairs two at a time, nearly tripping halfway up the flight bathed in darkness.

Sirius excitedly opened his door to find Remus, as promised, naked on his bed. Unfortunately, he was not hard, but Sirius didn’t really care at that moment. He grinned uncontrollably as he slipped out of his clothes as quickly as possible and joined Remus on the bed, who was watching him.

“You’re getting me a dog,” Sirius said before kissing the soles of Remus’ feet.

“You said you always wanted one,” Remus replied as he sighed contentedly.

“I know,” he muttered happily.

“It’s a puppy still, house-trained already, a fully black Great Dane. It’s at my aunt’s because her dog just died a couple months ago and she still has the bed and toys for it,” Remus explained as he squirmed under Sirius’ actions. “I’m picking him up tomorrow.”

As Remus spoke to him about his dog, Sirius kissed up to the shorter man’s calves and thighs, bypassing his cock in favor of spending special attention to his lovely hips. Sirius chuckled when Remus bucked his hips to try and get Sirius to pay attention to his hardening length. He kissed up to the man’s belly button and swirled his tongue in the small divot as Remus ran his hands through Sirius’ hair. Sirius continued giving Remus open mouthed kisses up his sternum and laved at the two pink nubs on his chest, giving them gentle tugs with his teeth before moving further up to Remus’ collarbone and eventually made his way up to the pulse point. He marked the spot, giving him a lovely colored spot on his neck before facing Remus.

Remus was flushed and his eyes were hooded with pleasure. He smiled at Sirius. “Hi,” he whispered.

Sirius smirked and chuckled, “Hi.”

“Having a good birthday so far?” Remus asked tenderly, his hands roaming Sirius’ chest.

“The best,” Sirius declared.

“Good,” Remus instantly replied with a smirk. He then tugged Sirius down and kissed him hungrily. Their tongues moved against one another, fighting for dominance, as they grinded their erections together.

Remus gently forced Sirius away from his mouth and said, “I want you in me tonight.”

Even though Sirius’ cock twitched even more at the thought, he stopped. His expression was serious as he asked, “Are you sure?” Even though they’ve had sex multiple times since their huge row back in September, it was always Remus on top and Sirius on the bottom. Although Sirius wasn’t bothered by it because he liked to bottom more than top, but he wasn’t fussy when it came down to it.

Remus nodded. “I’m sure,” he gave Sirius a wry grin before moved back in to kiss him.

Sirius blindly grabbed the other pillow on his bed and shifted it so that Remus’ lower back was resting comfortably on the pillow. He grabbed all the necessities and worked on getting Remus prepared. He wanted it to be good for Remus; wanted it to be perfect.

Remus knew that the process was going to be a bit uncomfortable, and that it was going to sting, but Remus always had a high tolerance for pain.

Sirius began by rubbing the globes of his ass and then pushing his legs up to his chest. Sirius stared lovingly at the hidden hole in front of him, knowing that he would be the first one that Remus let touch him there. It was spine tingling and heartwarming. He snapped out of his daze and lathered a finger with lube and rubbed it to the area to make it slick.

When Sirius slipped one finger into Remus, it was alright; it stung initially, but not enough to make Remus squirm much. The next finger that breached him hurt more than the first one and the stinging took longer to go away. Sirius moved his fingers around slowly, trying to get him used to the sensation. The third finger was the worst, and Remus’ breathing picked up rapidly. He writhed a bit, but Sirius distracted him from the pain of stretching him out and getting him loose by sucking at his cock.

Sirius made sure to prep Remus slowly; he spent extra time and care stretching him and making sure that he was properly lubricated before he even thought about doing anything more. When he thought that Remus was prepped well enough, he started to slowly try and find the bundle of nerves that he knew was hidden there. He knew he found it when Remus unexpectedly arched his hips off the bed. Sirius grinned down at Remus and said, “Feels good huh?”

Remus nodded rapidly. “Do it again,” he demanded breathlessly.

Sirius hit the nerves again and began to stretch Remus a bit further as he thrust his fingers in and out of Remus, hitting the nerves every time. He stroked Remus’ cock, which was starting to glisten with pre-come, while thrusting at the same time, hoping that the pleasure would overpower the pain.

“Okay,” Remus said suddenly. “I’m ready.”

“Sure?”

“Yes, goddamn it. If you ask me if it’s okay one more time I’m going to leave,” Remus threatened.

Sirius just laughed before he rolled a condom onto himself, surprised that he didn’t even have to give himself a few strokes to get hard. He crawled over Remus and kissed his lover soothingly.

“Just relax,” Sirius commanded softly as Remus felt the tip of his cock pressed against his hole.

Remus tried to relax, but as soon as Sirius started to push, he involuntarily clenched. He took a deep breath and tried to only focus on the pleasure that coursed through his system.

Sirius began whispering some more as he littered Remus’ neck with kisses and tried to distract him by playing with his nipples by swiping his tongue over the hardened nubs and sucked the whole rosy peak into his mouth. He also started jerking Remus off at the same time, hoping that all of that would distract Remus enough for him to just get partially in.

When Sirius gave a little twist with his hand, a brush of his fingers on the moist head, and pressed the flat of his tongue against one nipple, Sirius was able to slip the head of his cock in. Remus gasped, but resisted the urge to clamp down on Sirius. Sirius muttered, “Goodgoodgood.”

Sirius went back to Remus’ mouth and kissed him as he pushed in slowly into Remus. Remus gritted his teeth, it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, but it didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt. He felt like he was being stretched past his limits, but knew that Sirius wouldn’t hurt him.

Eventually Sirius bottomed out and he groaned. “Fuck, you’re so tight.” He kissed the inside of Remus’ thigh and stopped stroking Remus. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

Remus nodded as he tried to relax and get used to the feeling. He felt so full and open. It was a weird feeling that he had never experienced before.

After a few minutes of waiting Remus told Sirius he was ready and Sirius nodded.

Sirius slid out a little before half-way before slowly pushing back in to Remus. He could tell that it was stinging. Sirius grabbed at Remus’ cock that had lost its stiffness and pumped in time with his shallow thrusts.

It was a strange feeling for Remus, to feel something long and hard penetrating him, hitting all the hidden spots that he didn’t know was there. Soon his body had adjusted to Sirius’ girth and he told Sirius to move faster.

Sirius moved at a moderate pace, not wanting to hurt Remus in any way.

“I love your arse,” Sirius commented with a huff and a sly grin. “Did you know that?”

Remus chuckled. “I’m quite fond of yours too.”

“Good.”

Soon enough Sirius sped up, his hips snapping. He changed his angle a little and tried to find Remus’ prostate again.

“Oh, shit!” Remus howled as pleasure ripped through him.

Sirius simply grinned down at Remus. He leaned back from Remus’ thighs and held them with his hands out in front of him as he sped up the pace that his hips moved.

Panting and sounds of skin against skin filled the heated room. For Sirius, the scene was perfect. Remus was beautiful beneath him, his cock hard and leaking onto his stomach. He was sure that he was never going to see a better sight than this.

Sirius could tell that Remus was close, just like he was. He made Remus hold onto his left leg as he grabbed at Remus’ prick one more time and pumped it fiercely.

Remus was on sensory overload, his body on fire, and the heat curling in his belly finally let itself go in Sirius’ hand. “ _Sirius!_ ” he cried as he came harder than ever, his spunk spilling quickly over Sirius’ hand and almost reaching his neck.

Sirius cursed as Remus hit his orgasm, clenching tightly around his cock and covering his hand in his warm come. After he finished stroking Remus through his orgasm, it was only a few more thrusts and a look of pure love and lust in Remus’ eyes to sending him to his climax and over the edge. He made a few small thrusts as he rode out his orgasm and promptly slumped bonelessly against Remus.

After a few seconds Remus muttered, “You’re heavy.”

Sirius pouted at him as he pulled out of Remus and said jokingly, “I love you, too.”

He took off the condom and tossed it in the trash can that was conveniently placed next to the bed. He didn’t notice that Remus had moved it, but grinned at Remus thinking ahead. Sirius grabbed a wipe for Remus and slowly wiped up all the semen that landed on Remus and tossed the dirty wipe into the trash.

They climbed underneath the covers when the chills started to set in and intertwined their bodies with one another, not knowing where one began and the other ended.

“Thank you,” Sirius whispered as he kissed the top of Remus’ head.

Remus moved and looked at Sirius with confusion. “For what?”

He shrugged slightly. “For trusting me to do that, and making this the best birthday ever.” Sirius knew that Remus was hesitant to bottom for him. It was something completely different from sticking your own cock somewhere.

Remus smiled adoringly. “It wasn’t a hard decision to make or that hard to do.”

They laid staring at one another before they started giggling and laughing uncontrollably.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

 

 

**Epilogue**

**Late December 2006**

 

 

“No wonder you wanted to open presents alone,” Sirius accused as he held up the leather collar. Remus just mischievously grinned at his lover, knowing that he actually loved the gift.

Christmas Eve was their night of presents and a holiday meal for just the two of them, their first Christmas together. On Christmas Day they were going to go to the Potters house for lunch and to introduce Remus to all the Potters; for dinner they were going to go to the Lupins, where Renee was finally going to meet the illustrious Sirius Black. Needless to say, they were both excited and worried to meet each other’s families.

A small black puppy climbed over into Sirius’ lap and tried to nose at the collar. Sirius pulled him back down and away from the collar; he didn’t want the dog to use it as a chew toy. “No, Padfoot,” he chastised with a firm voice. “This is not for you.”

Padfoot whined slightly before glancing at Remus. Sirius pouted, “No whining, please. This is a no whining household.”

Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius liked to talk to Padfoot as though he actually understood every word he said.

Sirius put the collar back into the bag it was originally in and handed Remus a small, rectangular shaped present from beside him that was poorly wrapped in red wrapping paper. Remus chuckled at the amount of tape used before unwrapping the paper and seeing _The Kite Runner_ in his hands. He smiled because it’s what he asked for.

As he looked up to thank Sirius, he interrupted him by saying, “Look inside the cover.”

Remus’ eyebrows scrunched in confusion, but did as he was told. Inside the cover was a hand written note saying ‘ _Look for your actual present on the xmas tree :)_ ’. Remus gave Sirius a skeptical look, but Sirius only pointed towards the small tree in the corner of the living room.

Shrugging, Remus got up from the couch and walked over to the tree which only went up to the middle of his stomach. He kneeled and began to shuffle around the tree, trying to find something that he hadn’t seen when they set up the tree a few weeks ago.

“What am I looking for exactly?” Remus asked, not looking at Sirius.

“You’ll know when you see it,” he replied so cryptically that Remus wanted to throw something at him.

He sighed and puttered around the tree for a few more seconds until her saw what he was looking for. He looked around the other ornaments on the tree, but back to the little silver hanging key that he knew Sirius was talking about. Slowly, he reached for it and took it off the tree and took off the hook. He was stunned. Sirius was giving him a key to his house. If it didn’t really mean anything Sirius would have said, ‘Oh hey, here’s an extra key to my house, just in case’ not make him go on a little hunt on Christmas Eve.

Remus slowly sat back down on the next to Sirius, Padfoot was gone from his lap and walking around on the floor. His hand was opened between them with the key staring at him from where it lay on his palm. Sirius closed Remus’ hand and curled his fingers around the cool metal. Remus kept his eyes where both of Sirius’ hands covered his fist.

“I…I want you to move in with me,” Sirius said smoothly. “I mean, you’re here all the time, and you said that your lease was up at the end of January…I would love it if you lived here with me, made this _our_ home.”

Remus looked up at Sirius with a carefully guarded look on his face. Sirius looked sincere and maybe a bit scared and desperate.

“If it’s the money you’re worried about, I guess you can pay for the bills or something, I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. I don’t want money to be an issue. And I don’t want you to think that you’re going to be a kept man, because you’re not, we both know you’re not. And I thi-”

Remus suddenly leaned forward and crashed their lips together. Remus pulled away and said, “Yes.”

“Yes?”

Remus grinned and nodded.

“Yes!” Sirius cried out in joy and grabbed Remus’ face with both hand. He kissed his lover hard and with passion that Remus never failed to notice.

Sirius pulled away and grinned frantically at Remus. He lifted up the collar from his lap and said, “Let’s go put this to some good use.”

 

***

 

_“Sirius!”_

_“Sirius?”_

“Aw, Sirius!”

Sirius woke up and blinked rapidly. Was James in his bedroom? Was that Lily? And Harry? Why do they look so nice? They look like they’re about to visit some relatives. _Oh._

“Looking at your arse is not on my list of to-dos today.”

“James!”

“Remus?”

“Mrs. Potter!”

James and Sirius whipped around, looking at Remus, who looked sheepish, and asked together, “Mrs. Potter?”

“Sirius!” Harry cried. He tried to break out of his mother’s grip, but Lily, noticing the state of the pair, held him back.

“Is that a collar?” James asked in disbelief.

Sirius colored before turning to Lily. “How do you know Remus?”

“She’s the owner of The Hideaway, Sirius.”

“Oh…really?”

Lily sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. “Why am I not surprised that you don’t remember the names of my restaurants?”

“I know Harry’s.”

“What’s mine?”

“Not now, dear,” Lily said kindly to Harry.

“You two have fifteen minutes before we’re leaving,” James intervened smoothly. He started to usher his wife and son out of the room. “And no funny business!”

As he was closing the door, Harry’s voice carried though to the two men. “Mummy, why was Sirius naked with that man? And why is he wearing a collar? I thought those were for dogs?”

“Maybe when you’re a bit older, okay sweetheart?”

“Try when he’s 30.”


End file.
